Packers officially announce hires of coordinators Joe Barry and Maurice Drayton

The moves are now official. After the news of the two hires had been reported over the last week-and-a-half, the Green Bay Packers formally announced the hiring of two new coordinators on Monday afternoon.

Maurice Drayton has taken over as special teams coordinator, replacing Shawn Mennenga who was fired following the conclusion of the 2020 season. Drayton earns a promotion after being the Packers’ assistant special teams coach over the past three seasons. Head coach Matt LaFleur moved quickly to keep Drayton in-house, as the news of his selection as the next coordinator broke less than 24 hours after Mennenga’s firing, which came on the Wednesday following the Packers’ NFC Championship Game loss to Tampa Bay.

LaFleur confirmed Drayton’s selection last Monday when he spoke to the media via Zoom, but at that time Drayton’s contract was still being finalized.

The Packers also announced that Joe Barry has indeed been hired as defensive coordinator for the 2021 season. The last four years saw Barry serve as the linebackers coach and assistant head coach for the Los Angeles Rams, where he worked for Sean McVay. Barry’s first year in LA, 2017, overlapped with LaFleur’s one season there as offensive coordinator. Barry takes the place of Mike Pettine, the team’s DC for the past three years whose contract expired after 2020 concluded.

Unless any assistant coaches leave the organization, the Packers should need to make only a few minor coaching hires to fill out their staff for 2021. Drayton will likely need a special teams assistant to fill his old position and the team has seen three individuals leave for jobs with other teams: offensive analyst Butch Barry, offensive quality control coach Kevin Koger, and defensive QC coach Christian Parker.