Tom Clements Has Been a Godsend to the Green Bay Packers
You cannot tell the success story of Packer quarterbacks since the turn of the century without Clements.
By rex.sheild
Look at the north end zone of Lambeau Field and walk around the surrounding streets, and you will see Hall of Fame players and Super Bowl-winning head coaches rightfully honored. But through the years, there have been many coaches and players who have been instrumental to the success of the Green Bay Packers, with far less attention and fanfare paid to them. One of those coaches, in particular, is current quarterbacks coach Tom Clements. You cannot tell the success story of Packer quarterbacks since the turn of the century without Clements.
Clements guided and mentored Brett Favre (2006-07), Aaron Rodgers (2008-2016, 2022), and Jordan Love (2023-present). Favre is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Rodgers will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame once he hangs up the cleats, and while it is way too early to conclude whether Love will find himself with a bust in Canton, he has at the very least proven he is the team’s franchise quarterback.
"Tom's probably one of the easiest and most intelligent coaches I've ever worked with," former Green Bay Packers and current Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told ESPN.
The former Notre Dame quarterback will turn 71 in June, prompting The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman to point out to Clements during media availability last week that he could be retired and on a beach somewhere with his feet up. “I can get my feet up here,” Clements deadpanned. More than that, though, Clements decided to return for another season because of the way the team finished the season and the prospects for this upcoming season. “It really wasn't that tough of a process to decide to come back.”
That bodes extremely well for Love. QB1 benefited from sitting behind Rodgers for three seasons, soaking in every possible piece of information Rodgers shared with him while also observing the way Rodgers played the game – at an MVP level. But he just as much benefited from Clement’s teachings during his first year as a starter and will continue to do so.
“Tom Clements, there’s a reason he is who he is,” former NFL QB and current NFL analyst Chris Simms said last offseason. “His ability to communicate, talk to quarterbacks … make them feel like he’s a part of this with you, [that] he’s in the game with you. That’s what a great quarterback coach does.”
Love finished second in the NFL last season in touchdown passes and seventh in yards, and looked like a top-five quarterback in the second half of the season. One big reason for Love’s surge down the stretch? He kept his eyes downfield when scrambling. “Early in the season when Jordan scrambled I'd say 95 percent of the time he ran the ball," Clements said, according to NBC26. “(In the) second half of the year... a larger percentage he was moving around and looking to throw the ball down the field which is what you want to do because you can get a lot of big plays in the scramble phase of the game.”
The expectations for Love as he enters his second year as a starter, with a presumed expensive contract in the not-too-distant future, are high, and he will be counted on to maintain his level of play from a season ago and perhaps even raise it. Luckily for him and Packer fans worldwide, he has a quarterback whisperer to help him every step of the way.
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHEESEHEAD NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE.
__________________________
Rex is a lifelong Packers fan but was sick of the cold, so he moved to the heart of Cowboys country. Follow him on Twitter (@Sheild92) and Instagram (@rex.sheild).
__________________________
Comments (18)
T7Steve
May 13, 2024 at 02:01 pm
Wish Favre would have had him sooner. Rodgers said he wished he'd had him for longer stretches and that he really helped him when he came back. If Love can keep him through these informative seasons and beyond, where will he be? That's not to mention the rest of the QB room and the backups that might have to go in at any time or become valuable trade potential.
Since'61
May 13, 2024 at 05:39 pm
In an article earlier this year it was discussed that Tom Clemens might not return for the 2024 season. At that time I posted that it would be crucial for Love to have Clemens for his second season as a starter to prevent Love from regressing after his solid first season. Fortunately Clemens will be back for 2024 and hopefully keep Love on track in his evolution towards an elite NFL QB. GPG! Thanks, Since '61
cdoemel
May 13, 2024 at 06:21 pm
Solid first season? Rewatch the first half of the SF game. I’m on the Love train for sure, but expectations need to be tempered for ‘24 imo.
SicSemperTyrannis
May 14, 2024 at 09:19 am
I'm not tempering anything. I see several "areas of opportunity," meaning things he can improve on. That's right, look at JL10 at his best, and he can improve from there. This season! HUGE upside potential remains unexplored, and these are minor adjustments that would do it.
I'm highly optimistic he can make those improvements, and sooner rather than later. Keeping Tom Clements in his corner is a HUGE asset. I haven't heard about who he was playing catch with over the off-season, but this is time for all that, too. Getting dialed in with the whole WR room is no small task, lots of practice goes into that.
LambeauPlain
May 14, 2024 at 11:11 am
Love's first season as a starter was better than either Favre or Rodgers first seasons behind center.
Solid first season? I will answer that with a resounding YOU BET!
I also like the cut of his jib. Not the gunslinging good 'ol Country Party Boy. Not the cerebral, arrogant, perfectionist. Is he like the quiet, well prepared, confident leader by example on and off the field? I see more Bart in Jordan than Brett or Aaron.
mnbadger
May 14, 2024 at 12:33 pm
I'm very optimistic for 2024 and beyond.
I too am tempering expectations for the future.
GB isn't protected from a Daniel Jones experience.
I'm also fearful that JL will consume such a large chunk of the cap that other valuable players will be lost to other teams with available cash.
the ar12 contract put us in a hell hole.
I hope that JL's new contract doesn't return us to those depths while also dividing a currently and seemingly tight locker room.
GPG!
stockholder
May 13, 2024 at 06:09 pm
It's really a miracle he's still here.
But Gute didn't have anything to do with Tom.
cdoemel
May 13, 2024 at 06:25 pm
I reread the article and the comments and saw no mention of BG. The HC hires his staff. ??
stockholder
May 13, 2024 at 06:44 pm
That is correct. Rodgers did.
Jordan Love-
176.5 passing yards per game
Team was 6-8 until they got hot.
LLCHESTY
May 13, 2024 at 08:00 pm
His day isn't complete until he shoehorns Gutey into every comment. He beats the ground above where the dead horse is buried.
stockholder
May 14, 2024 at 06:00 am
You just can't handle a difference of opinion.
Thats One for you and one for your horse.
cdoemel
May 13, 2024 at 07:02 pm
Well, you don’t know that for certain, but it could have been a conversation between ML and AR that set it in motion. Certainly ML knew of Clements.
“…until they got hot”. Streaky hot. Fans are all pumped up by the pundits who have annointed Love and this ‘24 team.
Go back and watch the first half of the 49ers game and tell me we were “hot”.
cdoemel
May 13, 2024 at 07:07 pm
It was actually painful to rewatch. With out Aaron Jones and penalties it could have been 24-6.
cdoemel
May 13, 2024 at 10:11 pm
Gotta respect a guy who sticks by his guns in the face of double digit down votes! lol.
I was born in GB in ’57. 1614 Langlade. We could stand on the front stoop and listen to the crowd roar.
Everyone has there own perspective and take. Haters, homers, blamers, the hopeful.
But (I’m assuming) we all love the Packers. We should be nicer to one another.
I’ve certainly been a dick here. Because it’s easy! Many of the posters here come off as if they have inside knowledge. Like they know something we don’t. No! You don’t! Stop acting like you do.
There are great posts here where they go back and gather stats or share a great article.
But no one really knows anything more than the next guy. We’re just sharing opinions.
Don’t make your opinion sound like a fact whispered to you by someone inside 1265.
Those are the posts that make me roll my eyes. And fire off a dick post.
I’m trying tho. And not leaving.
dobber
May 14, 2024 at 07:58 am
Keep callin' people on stuff. Ignorance is founded in not being made to examine your opinions.
"Those are the posts that make me roll my eyes. And fire off a dick post."
#4 discovered in NY that you need to be judicious in this...
SicSemperTyrannis
May 14, 2024 at 09:28 am
JL10 missed the first throw of the game. And panicked on the last. PLENTY of players and plays that could've been done better, yet GB was not merely in the game until the final 52 seconds, they were winning most of that time. Scary good! And not because of hanging onto momentum aka "being hot." Because players kept making plays.
Plenty of weaknesses were exposed, and those have been addressed, better than I could have hoped for. And really "addressing" them doesn't start taking shape until the pads come on, and won't start getting proven until Brazil.
No Sleep Til Brazil?
Lol this is a historically important time in franchise history. Go through the process correctly and it could be the best era GB's ever had. GPG!!
LambeauPlain
May 14, 2024 at 11:23 am
Certainly Love is benefitting from Clements. He greatly benefitted working with, learning from, and watching Rodgers for 3 years too.
Clifford and Pratt will greatly benefit from the Jedi Master Tom. And the two young backups will also benefit from working, learning, watching Jedi Jordan.
Oppy
May 14, 2024 at 11:05 pm
Anyone else find it odd that in an article praising the QB coach as being key to the success of three consecutive starting QBs... the author decided to feature a clip showing three QBs committing very similar -atrocious- footwork mechanics?