Green Bay Packers reward Adam Stenavich with promotion to offensive coordinator
Tom Silverstein
GREEN BAY - The Green Bay Packers have a new offensive coordinator.
The club made it official Monday morning that offensive line coach/run game coordinator Adam Stenavich has been promoted to replace Nathaniel Hackett.
After Hackett, the newly hired head coach of the Denver Broncos, attempted to hire Stenavich as his offensive coordinator, coach Matt LaFleur was able to convince him to stay. News of Stenavich returning to Green Bay was first reported Friday by 9News.com in Denver, and PackersNews later reported he would be LaFleur’s offensive coordinator.
In addition to Hackett, LaFleur lost quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Luke Getsy, who was hired as offensive coordinator by the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
To replace Stenavich, a source said assistant offensive line coach Luke Butkus will become offensive line coach. Butkus has worked with Stenavich all three years LaFleur has been head coach and LaFleur has made it a point to mention Butkus every time he praises Stenavich.
A source said LaFleur plans to promote wide receivers coach Jason Vrable to passing game coordinator after Hackett made a run at him to become offensive coordinator. It’s likely Vrable will take over the quarterbacks position as well. He played quarterback at Marietta College and coached quarterbacks in stays at Robert Morris, Syracuse and the University of Charleston.
If Vrable is given the quarterback’s job, LaFleur could promote coaching assistant Ruvell Martin to receivers coach. Martin, who played receiver for the Packers from 2006-08, has been assisting Vrable among other duties on offense.
Getsy was a candidate to replace Hackett, but it’s believed Stenavich was LaFleur’s choice all along. Both were vital parts of the Packers’ offensive success the past three seasons, Getsy more in the passing game and Stenavich in the running game.
Stenavich’s rise through the coaching ranks has been swift, and one of the reasons is the contributions he has made both in keeping the offensive line functioning amid many injuries and being a vital part of planning the run game each week.
LaFleur hired Stenavich in ’19 as his offensive line coach despite the fact Stenavich had served just two seasons as assistant offensive line coach for the San Francisco 49ers. However, the Marshfield native had three years of college coaching experience at San Jose State (2015-16) and Northern Arizona (2014) and had spent three years on NFL practice squads, including one with the Packers.
Stenavich’s acumen became evident early on and quarterback Aaron Rodgers praised him often for coming up with good run game plans and in-game adjustments. In 2021, a year after the Packers led the league in scoring, LaFleur added run game coordinator to his title.
Some of Stenavich’s best work was coming up with offensive line combinations to account for a rash of injuries the last two seasons. He figured out the best two or three positions each offensive lineman played and then worked them there during training camp.
As a result, he was able to play Billy Turner at three different spots, Elgton Jenkins at five spots and Lucas Patrick at all three interior spots. In ’21, he added second-year pro Jon Runyan and rookie Royce Newman to the starting lineup and running backs Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon became the second pair of backs in club history to each gain 1,100 total yards.
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As offensive coordinator, Stenavich would not have called plays in Denver and will not do that in Green Bay, either. But like Hackett did in Green Bay, he will oversee the offensive staff in developing the weekly game plans and directing the offense during practice.
Hackett was in constant communication with LaFleur during games and it’s likely Stenavich will do the same.
Butkus has 11 years of experience in the NFL, serving as an assistant offensive line coach or quality control assistant, and six years of experience in Division I college football. The nephew of Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, Luke Butkus played center at Illinois and was a two-time all-Big Ten selection (2000-01).