It was an impactful ride, but quarterbacks coach Tom Clements is retiring from the NFL. The 71-year-old coach decided to walk away after spending the last three seasons of his career with the Green Bay Packers working with Aaron Rodgers and then Jordan Love.

Head coach Matt LaFleur confirmed Clements’ decision to retire during his final press conference of the season on Tuesday.

“It'll be interesting over the course of the next couple days. I think we'll learn some things. I have not talked to our staff yet, individually,” LaFleur said when asked about coaching staff changes. “The only one that I know for certain is Tom Clements. He is going to retire.”

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In 2022, Aaron Rodgers asked for LaFleur to consider hiring Clements. The head coach agreed to it, and Clements decided to stay after Rodgers was traded to the New York Jets. Over the last few years, the coach was instrumental for the development of Jordan Love.

“It's been a cool ride with him for the last three years. He's incredibly consistent, what a great man, great mind,” LaFleur added. “He's had the opportunity to coach some of the best. When you talk about Favre, Rodgers, and then the development of Jordan Love. That's pretty cool. I know he's been a lot to this organization, his contributions and he will definitely be missed. I can't say enough great things about him, really appreciate him.”

Options

Now, LaFleur will have to choose a new quarterbacks coach. He said there are internal candidates, but there’s no guarantee it will be a promotion.

“Yeah, potentially, we'll see what happens,” LaFleur mentioned.

The most logical options on the current staff are assistant quarterbacks coach Connor Lewis, who also does work as an in-game management specialist, offensive assistant and former quarterback Sean Mannion, and Luke Getsy, the previous quarterbacks coach who left in 2022 to be the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator but is back with the Packers as a defensive consultant.

History

Tom Clements was a CFL quarterback between 1975 and 1987. He started his coaching career in 1992 at Notre Dame, then moved to the NFL where he worked for the New Orleans Saints, Kansas City Chiefs, and Pittsburgh Steelers as QBs coach, and with the Buffalo Bills as an offensive coordinator.

Clements was hired for the initial Mike McCarthy staff in 2006 as the quarterbacks coach, a position he held from 2006 to 2011. When Joe Philbin left to be the Miami Dolphins' head coach, Clements was promoted to offensive coordinator and then to assistant head coach.

Tom Clements retired after the 2016 season, but returned to be the Arizona Cardinals pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for two seasons, between 2019 and 2020. After a second retirement, Clements returned to the Packers in 2022. Now, he hangs it up for the third time.

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