Arizona Cardinals’ new head coach Mike LaFleur and Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur are both excellent offensive minds, but are they related?
Let’s delve into their connection.
Breaking Down Mike LaFleur’s Relation to Matt LaFleur
Yes, Mike and Matt are brothers. However, the more interesting story is how the NFL’s most interconnected coaching tree produced two offensive minds who keep ending up on opposite sidelines.
Mike, 38, served as the Rams’ offensive coordinator before being hired as the Cardinals’ new head coach. Matt, 46, is the head coach of the Packers. They grew up in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, both played quarterback, and both ended up in an NFL coaching fraternity that traces back to the same source: Washington’s staff under Mike Shanahan in the early 2010s.
The LaFleur brothers emerged from an offensive coaching incubator that has reshaped the NFL. Matt worked alongside Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan in Washington from 2010 to 2013. Mike followed a similar path, eventually landing with Kyle in San Francisco as passing game coordinator, and now he’s under McVay in LA.
When Matt got the Packers job in 2019, his first call for an offensive coordinator interview was to his younger brother. Shanahan blocked it. The 49ers coach also denied interview requests from the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings, arguing that Mike wasn’t being offered play-calling responsibilities worthy of his development.
They have faced off a number of times, and Mike won four of the first six matchups between the brothers.
“I feel like too many times I’ve been on the wrong side of things — and that’s a tough pill to swallow for letting the little brother win,” Matt said in 2023. “Certainly early on, I never took it easy on him. I always tried to bury him every time I could.”
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Their father, Denny LaFleur, played linebacker at Central Michigan and won a national championship in 1974. He became a longtime assistant coach at the school and at one point held the program’s record for career tackles.
Their mother, Kristi, was a physical education teacher who coached track and cheerleading. Matt bought his parents a house in Green Bay — a detail he’s jokingly referenced as leverage for their loyalty during brother-versus-brother matchups.
Mike’s Moment Arrived After Matt’s Season Ended
Matt’s Packers season ended in the Wild Card round when the Bears erased an 18-point deficit in a 31-27 Chicago win. Despite the collapse, the Packers decided to extend LaFleur’s contract. The team lost five straight to close the year, including the playoff loss.
Mike’s Rams advanced past the Carolina Panthers with a 34-31 Wild Card victory and also defeated the Bears in the Divisional Round. However, they lost to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game,
Under Mike’s guidance this season, the Rams led the NFL in total offense at 394.6 yards per game and finished first in scoring with 518 points. Also, LA boasts the No. 1 offense in PFSN’s Offense Impact metric with a 92.3 grade.
That production generated head coaching interest. Mike interviewed virtually with both the Las Vegas Raiders and Cardinals — the first head coaching opportunities of his career.
The McVay coaching tree has already produced Matt, Zac Taylor, Kevin O’Connell, and Liam Coen, among others, as NFL head coaches. Chris Shula (Rams defensive coordinator) and Nate Scheelhaase (Rams passing game coordinator) also drew interview requests this cycle.
Matt was once asked about coaching alongside his brother again someday. They shared a staff in Atlanta from 2015 to 2016, when Matt was quarterbacks coach, and Mike was an offensive assistant. The Falcons reached Super Bowl LI that season.
“To coach with your brother at any level is really special,” Matt said.
For now, they remain competitors who happen to share a last name, a father who coached them both, and a professional network that makes the NFL feel smaller than 32 franchises spread across a continent.
“We’re as close as any two brothers, especially in this league, could be,” Matt said. “I’m always pulling for him. I’m always trying to help him — except for when we play each other.”
