Packers Coaches Learn What Ned Yost Found Out Too Late in Milwaukee

As manager of the Kansas City Royals, Yost says he's become a better listener, something the Packers are already doing a good job of in Green Bay.

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy by Steve Mitchell—USA TODAY Sports.

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy by Steve Mitchell—USA TODAY Sports.

Ned Yost learned a couple lessons too late during his stint as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers for the better part of six seasons from 2003 to 2008.

Ultimately, some of those mistakes led to Yost's demise, fired with just a dozen games remaining in the 2008 season while in the midst of a pennant race.

Now, as manager of the Kansas City Royals and on the brink of the franchise's first appearance in the World Series—and the postseason—since 1985, Yost considers himself a changed man.

"Completely different, I think," said Yost on Monday. "I've learned to let my players be themselves. I'm every bit as patient as I was back then. I think I'm also, because I have great coaches, I think I listen a lot more than I did back then. I'm pretty hard‑headed, a little more flexible, and use the tremendous experience we have in our coaching staff to my benefit and our benefit."

It's the listening that has become a big part of the equation, contributing to the Royals facing the San Francisco Giants in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday evening.

Yost may not have been an adept listener during his reign in Milwaukee, but just up the road, Mike McCarthy and the rest of the Green Bay Packers coaching staff are figuring out that listening to their players is paying dividends.

Since reaching the pinnacle of professional football, winning Super Bowl XLV during the 2010 season, the Packers have gone backwards with records of 15-1 in 2011 to 11-5 in 2012 to 8-7-1 in 2013 and playoff exits short of the conference championship round in all three years.

Something had to change, especially on the defensive side of the football, if the Packers were going to reverse the direction their team was trending.

"The communication has to be a two-way street, and that's something I've always felt just from coaching quarterbacks and going through it," said McCarthy. "I feel like we've always had that on offense. Defensively we've made a number of changes scheme-wise, just how we rotate personnel. There's been some change, so I think the cohesiveness needed to take place."

After finishing the 2013 season ranked 25th in total defense and 24th in points allowed, the Packers made several changes in offseason.

They acquired not only future Hall of Famer Julius Peppers in free agency, but also defensive lineman Letroy Guion, who's playing a bigger role by the week.

Then in the NFL Draft, they addressed the underachieving safety position by taking Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in the first round.

With an infusion of talent, the schemes needed to be tweaked in Green Bay, which has led to defensive coordinator Dom Capers incorporating both 3-4 and 4-3 looks.

The recently unveiled NASCAR package is the latest addition with a four-man defensive front that includes Peppers, Clay Matthews, Nick Perry and Mike Neal rushing the passer.

"The communication, we all could be better at that," said McCarthy. "We talked about it as a team earlier in the week. It's important for us. For us to grow, we obviously need to communicate better. By no means do we feel like we've got it all figured out. But yes, it's a focus of ours.

"It's something that's talked about. I think all of our coordinators and coaches need to continue to open up those communication (lines). You know, it's like anything. They may give you how many suggestions, but they're good suggestions."

Cornerback Tramon Williams, one of the longest-tenured veterans on the team, credits the give and take between the players and the coaches for a boost on defense.

"At the end of the day, we're the ones out there, so we have to be comfortable," Williams is quoted as saying by the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "I think the communication line has been really well between coaches and players and the understanding has been really good between us of understanding what we see on the field, trusting what they see on the film and in their game-plan and adding that all in together and coming up with a game plan."

The season is far from over, but the improvement on the defensive side of the football has been evident in Green Bay in 2014.

Currently the Packers rank 19th in total defense and ninth in points allowed, a step up from last season.

The result in Kansas City from Ned Yost becoming a better listener has been a trip to the World Series.

Meanwhile, the result in Green Bay is a 5-2 record with more than half the season yet to play itself out.

The Packers obviously would like to find themselves in Arizona with an appearance in the Super Bowl at season's end, but that's yet to be determined.

If the lines of communication remain open and the defense keeps trending in the right direction, however, the sky's the limit.

 

Brian Carriveau is the author of the book "It's Just a Game: Big League Drama in Small Town America," and editor at Cheesehead TV and its "Pro Football Draft Preview." To contact Brian, email [email protected].

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Amanofthenorth's picture

October 21, 2014 at 06:11 pm

Nice article. What we had last year was a lack of communication. The coaches said tackle the receiver, and the safety said, "what?"

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