Drayton Goes from Finland to Canton to Packers’ New Special Teams Coordinator
GREEN BAY, Wis. – No one can say Maurice Drayton hasn’t gone the extra mile to become the Green Bay Packers’ special teams coordinator.
In 2002, he was a coach of the Charleston Swamp Foxes in af2, an offshoot of the Arena Football League. In 2006, he was the defensive coordinator for the Seinajoki Crocodiles of the European Football League in Seinajoki, Finland. In 2007, he was a high school coach.
On Thursday, he was promoted to special teams coordinator by coach Matt LaFleur, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported. He replaces Shawn Mennenga, who was fired on Wednesday after two dismal seasons as LaFleur’s first coordinator.
Drayton was hired by former Packers coach Mike McCarthy as an assistant special teams coach in 2018 and was retained by LaFleur in 2019.
When Drayton was a kid, his paper route took him past the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“When we moved to Canton, Ohio, that’s when that flicker turned into a flame,” Drayton told FootballScoop. “I was there from eighth grade through 11th grade, and anything dealing with the Hall of Fame, I was there like a sponge. I would hang out at all the festivities.
“I remember I walked up to Tom Jackson, I’m just a little runt, and shook his hand and said, ‘You don’t know me, but you’re going to be talking about me one day.’ Looking through the fence into old Fawcett Stadium, Darrell Green threw me a chin strap. That was my position, I had always wanted to meet Darrell Green. Just little things like that.”
Drayton was assistant special teams coach in 2016 and 2017 with the Indianapolis Colts. Prior to that, he was a college coach for 14 seasons – nine of them at his alma mater, The Citadel.
Drayton’s motto, as is evident from his Twitter account, is “Lifting as I Climb.” Denver Broncos special teams coordinator Tom McMahon called Drayton a dedicated teacher.
He’ll have his work cut out for him. The Packers finished 29th in Rick Gosselin’s annual special-teams rankings. Last season, despite a strong finish, Green Bay ranked 26th.
Green Bay and bad special teams play is practically synonymous. It’s finished 20th or worse in six of the past eight seasons. That includes 32nd in the final season under Ron Zook in 2018, 29th in 2016 and 32nd in 2014. They have not fielded a top-10 unit since 2007.
“I think everything starts with relationships and communication,” Drayton told FootballScoop. “Our head coach does a really good job of allowing us to be ourselves. And we approach and coach these guys from that standpoint, be yourself. We’re not going to micromanage you; we’re going to help you go out there and do it, find a way to get it done. I think my skill set right now is blossoming, and being a teams guy, I have my hands on the whole team, everybody except the quarterbacks of course. We’ve built relationships and bonds. The locker room that’s the tightest is one to work to achieve the most.”
