Green Bay Packers special teams coach Shawn Slocum.
Genius.
Exceptional.
Extraordinary.
Talent.
Effective.
Those are just some of the words that come to mind when thinking of this brilliant man.
Wait…
What was that sound?
Oh, a record scratching and snapping me back into reality.
Shawn Slocum has long been the completely obvious weak link on the Green Bay Packers coaching staff. Say what you will about Mike McCarthy, Dom Capers and so forth, none of those guys comes anywhere close to the consistent level of ineptitude exhibited by Shawn Slocum.
We’ve said it a million times if we’ve said it once. In any other workplace in normal society, Slocum would have been out of a job a long time ago.
His units consistently rank near the bottom of the league and are known more for colossal mistakes than they are for creating big plays.
The Packers and, more specifically, coach Mike McCarthy, fired then special teams coach Mike Stock following the 2008 season for similar failures. McCarthy has since gotten rid of two of Slocum’s assistants — Curtis Fuller and Chad Morton.
The latter dismissal is why we’re here talking about Slocum again today. Morton was hired by the Seattle Seahawks for the same position shortly after the Packers dismissed him last offseason. Although all the evidence they needed regarding the Packers special teams’ tendencies was on film, the Seahawks say Morton helped them understand the calls, schemes, etc.
Because Slocum doesn’t change those things. Why would you ever change those things?
As you surely know by now, the Seahawks knew Brad Jones played too aggressively on field goals. Seattle saw this on tape and that led to the fake field goal call in the NFC Championship game. And of course, that led to a touchdown and the game unraveled from there.
Here’s where this story gets better.
We asked the question after the game. Why would the Packers even be trying to block the field goal there? They were up 16-0. The only play is to play the potential fake. If you give up three, who cares?
According to one Packers’ player, Slocum called for a block left (off the Seahawks’ left side), which also was the short side of the field. Teams rarely rush from the short side.
Of course Shawn Slocum called for a block on the play. He’s Shawn Slocum.
Icon.
Great.
Legend.