GREEN BAY – Head Coach Matt LaFleur has announced the hiring of Tom Clements as the Packers' next quarterbacks coach.
Here are five things to know about Clements:
1. He is no stranger to Green Bay.
During Mike McCarthy's 13-year tenure as Packers head coach, Clements was one of his most trusted assistants for 11 of those years. McCarthy hired him as QB coach on his initial staff in 2006, and he served in that capacity for the first six seasons.
Clements took over as offensive coordinator in 2012, holding that post for three seasons, and then became associate head coach for his final two years in Green Bay (2015-16). He also called the offensive plays for a portion of the 2015 season.
2. Aaron Rodgers refers to him often as both a favorite and influential coach.
There's no assistant coach throughout Rodgers' career who has spent more time working with him than Clements, given his duties in Green Bay from 2006-16. Rodgers regularly brings him up, unprompted, in media sessions when talking about his development and everything he learned in becoming a four-time MVP.
The mutual respect between the two was always evident during their previous time together.
3. Clements was a standout QB in his own right.
A three-year starter at Notre Dame, Clements led the Fighting Irish to a national title in 1973. The following year, he was named first-team All-America and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting.
Despite those accolades, Clements was not selected in the 1975 NFL Draft and instead put together a highly successful career in Canada. Playing for four different CFL teams over 12 years (1975-79, '81-87), Clements was a seven-time CFL all-star.
With Ottawa, Clements was named the league's most outstanding rookie in 1975 and won a Grey Cup championship the next year. He led the league in passing yards with Hamilton in '79. With Winnipeg, he won a second Grey Cup in '84 and was named the league's most outstanding player in '87.
Clements was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1994, shortly after his coaching career got underway as the QB coach at his alma mater, Notre Dame.
4. Clements worked for four NFL teams before coming to Green Bay in 2006.
Clements broke into the NFL coaching ranks in 1997 as the QB coach for New Orleans. He held that same job in Kansas City (2000) and Pittsburgh (2001-03) before becoming offensive coordinator in Buffalo for two seasons (2004-05).
Before meeting Brett Favre and Rodgers with the Packers, Clements coached three QBs to Pro Bowl selections – the Chiefs' Elvis Grbac (2000) and the Steelers' Kordell Stewart (2001) and Tommy Maddox (2002).
5. He's actually coming out of retirement to work for the Packers again.
After the 2016 season in Green Bay, Clements was out of the NFL for two years before joining Kliff Kingsbury's staff in Arizona as passing game coordinator/QB coach for the 2019-20 seasons. Cardinals QB Kyler Murray was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in '19 and made the Pro Bowl in '20.
Clements announced his retirement in January of 2021, but is now coming out of retirement to coach again. Outside of football, Clements earned a law degree from Notre Dame while playing in the CFL and practiced law in Chicago between his playing and coaching careers.
