Packers’ Matt LaFleur Among 2024 NFL Coach of Year Favorites
GREEN BAY, Wis. – An afterthought in NFL Coach of the Year conversations during his five-year tenure, could Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur win the award in 2024?
For what it’s worth, he’s among the way-too-early favorites. At DraftKings Sportsbook, LaFleur is +800 to win the award. Those are the second-shortest odds behind only new Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, who is +550. By implied probability, LaFleur is 11.1 percent. He is sandwiched between Harbaugh (15.4 percent) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris (+1000; 9.1 percent).
LaFleur has barely caused a ripple in past Coach of the Year conversations.
Hired in 2019, he inherited a team that finished 6-9-1 in 2018. In his debut season, the Packers went 13-3 and reached the NFC Championship Game. Even with that seven-win improvement, LaFleur received only three of the 50 votes and finished a distant third behind the Ravens’ John Harbaugh (27.5 votes) and the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan (14.5 votes).
During the COVID season of 2020, the Packers once again went 13-3. This time, they earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. LaFleur once again garnered only three votes and finished fifth, well behind the Browns’ Kevin Stefanski (25 votes).
In 2021, the Packers went 13-4 and were the No. 1 seed for a second consecutive year. LaFleur received eight votes to finish second behind his former boss, Titans coach Mike Vrabel (36 votes).
In 2022, a new format debuted in which the 50 voters cast ballots for first, second and third place. With the Packers slumping to 8-9 and missing the playoffs, LaFleur did not appear on any ballots.
In 2023, with the Packers trading Aaron Rodgers, handing the offense to Jordan Love and surrounding the first-year starter with the youngest group of receivers and tight ends in the NFL, they finished 9-8 and returned to the playoffs. LaFleur received two third-place votes and finished ninth with two points; Stefanski beat Houston’s DeMeco Ryans on a tiebreaker to win the award again with 165 points.
“Got to give Matt and his staff a ton of credit,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said a couple weeks ago. “Obviously, there was a bunch of new moving pieces and, obviously, we dealt with some injuries along the way, like all teams do. But give those guys a lot of credit and the players themselves for kind of sticking with it, fighting through things, coming together (and) never really losing faith.”
While the betting odds support LaFleur’s candidacy, the reality is he’ll be taking over a team with some considerable expectations. At FanDuel Sportsbook, the Packers opened at +2500 but those moved to +2300 on Thursday. Those are the 10th-shortest odds.
Coaches who are expected to win and win generally don’t get much traction unless they overcome adversity. For instance, Stefanski won Coach of the Year with the Browns overcoming the loss of stud running back Nick Chubb and getting into the playoffs with Joe Flacco replacing injured Deshaun Watson at quarterback. Ryans, meanwhile, led the Texans to a 10-7 record after they went 7-26-1 the previous two seasons.
Here are the top-10 in the Coach of the Year odds.
Jim Harbaugh, Chargers: +550
Matt LaFleur, Packers: +800
Raheem Morris, Buccaneers: +1000
Shane Steichen, Colts: +1400
Robert Saleh, Jets: +1400
Mike Macdonald, Seahawks: +1400
DeMeco Ryans, Texans: +1400
Sean McVay, Rams: +1800
Matt Eberflus, Bears: +1800
Dan Campbell, Lions (among others): +2000
