Packers Announce Coaching Staff Changes
By: Nick Goddard
Updated: February 13, 2012
The Green Bay
Packers have named Jerry
Fontenot tight ends coach,
Ben McAdoo quarterbacks coach
and Alex Van Pelt
running backs coach. The team also announced that John Rushing
will now serve as offensive assistant/special teams and Joel Hilgenberg
will now serve as assistant offensive line coach. Head Coach Mike McCarthy made
the announcement Monday.
Fontenot will be
entering his seventh season on Green Bay's coaching staff in 2012, having
tutored the team's running backs this past season. He served as assistant
offensive line coach from 2007-10 and as offensive assistant in 2006. In 2011,
Fontenot tutored second-year RB James Starks (578 yards) and veteran RB Ryan
Grant (559) as they became the first Packers tandem to each rush for 550-plus
yards in a season since Edgar Bennett and Dorsey Levens did so in 1996. Also
under Fontenot's direction in 2011, John Kuhn became the first Green Bay
fullback to be selected to the Pro Bowl since William Henderson in 2004.
Fontenot played center in the NFL for 16 seasons with three different teams
(Chicago, 1989-96; New Orleans, 1997-2003; Cincinnati,
2004).
McAdoo has been
with the club since 2006, serving as the tight ends coach each of the past six
seasons. He was instrumental in the development of TE Jermichael Finley, who
matched his career high with 55 receptions (also 2009) for a career-best 767
yards and a career-high eight TDs in 2011. Finley's reception total this past
season was tied for No. 2 in franchise history and his yardage number also
ranked No. 2 in team single-season annals. In 2009, Green Bay's tight ends
posted a collective 99 receptions for 1,048 yards under McAdoo's direction,
franchise records in both categories. Prior to coming to Green Bay, McAdoo
served as assistant offensive line/quality control coach for the San Francisco
49ers in 2005 and offensive assistant/quality control for the New Orleans Saints
in 2004. He also coached at the collegiate level at Akron, Pittsburgh, Fairfield
and Michigan State.
Van Pelt will be
entering his seventh season as an NFL coach, having served as the quarterbacks
coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the past two seasons. In his first season in
Tampa Bay in 2010, Van Pelt tutored second-year QB Josh Freeman, who finished
sixth in the NFL in passer rating (95.9) while throwing for 3,451 yards, 25
touchdowns and just six interceptions. Van Pelt spent the previous four seasons
(2006-09) with the Buffalo Bills, serving as offensive coordinator in '09,
quarterbacks coach in '08 and offensive quality control coach from 2006-07. He
spent the winter of 2006 as the quarterbacks coach/pass coordinator for the
University at Buffalo. Van Pelt also volunteered with the Bills in 2005 as an
offensive quality control coach after spending the 2005 NFL Europe season as the
quarterbacks coach for the Frankfurt Galaxy. He played nine seasons (1995-2003)
at quarterback for the Bills and was a four-year starter at the University of
Pittsburgh, where he holds school career records for passing yards and
completions.
