Sean Mannion promoted to Packers QB coach and has first item on his to-do list in new role

Paul Bretl | 1/31/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers will be promoting assistant quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion to the team’s new quarterbacks coach, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.

This move comes a little over two weeks after Matt LaFleur announced that Tom Clements would be retiring.

“Man, it’s been a cool ride with him for the last three years,” Matt LaFleur said of Clements during his season-ending news conference. “He’s incredibly consistent. What a great man, a great mind. Obviously, he’s had the opportunity to coach some of the best – talk about (Brett) Favre, Rodgers and then the development of Jordan Love. I mean, that’s pretty cool.

Clements initially retired after the 2020 season following two years as the Arizona quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. However, he would return to Green Bay in 2022 to coach Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love, and the other Packers’ quarterback.

Always a stickler for the fundamentals and drill work during practice, often specifically focusing on footwork, the cornerstone of playing the quarterback position, Clements played an important role in Love’s development the last two seasons as he transitioned to the starting role.

This return to Green Bay in 2022 was Clements’ second stint with the team. He took over as the quarterbacks coach in 2006 when Brett Favre was the quarterback and held that title until 2011, helping Rodgers transition into the starting role at that time. Clements was also the Packers’ offensive coordinator under Mike McCarthy from 2012-2014 and the assistant head coach from 2015-2016.

“I know he’s meant a lot to this organization (with) his contributions and he will definitely be missed,” added LaFleur. “I can’t say enough great things about him. I really appreciate him. But he did tell me you guys have got to leave him alone. He don’t want to talk to nobody (smiling).”

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Mannion joined the Packers’ coaching staff in 2024 as an offensive assistant and often worked with the quarterbacks. Following his own playing career, which began in 2015 as a third-round pick by the Rams, Mannion jumped right into coaching after retiring as a player in 2023.

LaFleur even previously coached Mannion during the 2018 season when both were with the LA Rams.

“I always figured he was going to go down this route,” said LaFleur last offseason about Mannion. “Matter of fact, when we played ‘em earlier in the year (2023), he told me he was going to get into coaching. So I was like, ‘All right, well, let me know when you’re going to be come a coach.’ He’s just a guy that I’ve always respected how he went about his process, how he prepared for games, how he helped Jared (Goff) in that situation (with the Rams) being a backup for us.”

One of the items on Jordan Love’s offseason to-do list that Mannion will now play a critical role with is the aforementioned footwork. LaFleur described this as needing to be an emphasis for Love heading into 2025, mentioning that the consistency of it on certain plays, along with being a more vocal leader.

Footwork is the foundation for a quarterback’s success on any given play. As Clements has said previously, he usually has a good idea of how the pass turned out by watching the quarterback’s footwork.

Footwork, the cornerstone of a quarterback’s performance, is more than just steps. It’s about executing the right drop to ensure timely throws, maintaining balance, and keeping the feet in constant motion. This synchronized movement with the quarterback’s eyes is crucial for a successful play. Any deviation from this can disrupt the quarterback’s mechanics, leading to inaccurate passes or mistimed plays.

In the Philadelphia game, specifically, LaFleur mentioned that on certain drops, Love’s footwork got a little loose, which can disrupt the timing and rhythm of the passing play, especially when the ball is supposed to be out quickly. This also wasn’t the first time throughout the season that this happened either. As Love navigated a knee and groin injury during the first half of the year, the lack of practice time hurt some of those fundamental components of playing the position.

“I think just the one thing I did talk to him about was just the consistency of his footwork on some of these plays,” LaFleur said. “I think he would be the first to tell you the same thing because there were some instances throughout the course of the season and specifically in this last game where the rhythm and timing, especially when you have a rhythm play, like quick game for example, just that left-right footwork that we take just hitting your back foot and letting it rip.

“Or if you do take a hitch, you gotta take your checkdown, typically, or progress on. So I would say that, because I think that’s the foundation of great quarterback play is the fundamentals, the techniques, the footwork.”

Jordan Love’s second year as the starting quarterback for the Packers was a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Injuries during the first half of the season forced him to miss time and hampered his play, to a degree. Out of the bye week, we saw an impressive stretch from Weeks 11-15 where Love and the offense were heating up with five straight 30-plus point performances, only for both to cool off drastically during the team’s final three games of the season.

As LaFleur will often point out, the quarterback gets all the credit when the team wins and all the blame when the team loses, but in both instances, it’s a group effort to get to either of those results. With that said, Love taking a big stride heading into his third season as the starter will be critical for the Packers and their Super Bowl aspirations.

“We gotta play better in those moments,” said LaFleur. “We can’t have the critical turnovers. We need everybody on the details. Because, I said this to our team for sure yesterday, but the details usually is what separates. It separates good from great and we have got to be on top of our details, everybody doing their individual whatever they’re asked to do. They’ve got to do their 1/11 at a high level, otherwise it’s hard to win those games.”

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