Matt LaFleur on verge of historical achievement of…

GREEN BAY – For all the attention, and rightly so, on Aaron Rodgers breaking Brett Favre’s franchise record for touchdown passes with his next one, there’s a piece of history Head Coach Matt LaFleur is on the verge of as well.

With a win Saturday vs. the Browns, LaFleur would tie the league record for the most regular-season wins by a head coach in his first three years, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

From 1989-91, San Francisco’s George Seifert won 38 games, going 14-2 his first two seasons and then 10-6 in his third. Thus far, LaFleur is 37-9 at the helm of the Packers (13-3, 13-3, 11-3), moving ahead of Jim Harbaugh’s 36 wins at San Francisco from 2011-13 with last week’s victory at Baltimore, coincidentally over Harbaugh’s brother John.

LaFleur now has an opportunity to tie Seifert this week, and if he does, he could surpass him next week, which would be significant in that he could set the new mark without needing the 17th regular-season game that was added this year. The NFL had been playing 16-game regular seasons since 1978.

Ask LaFleur about any of his accomplishments, and he’s always quick to credit others in the organization – the players, his coaching staff, the personnel department, you name it. He also always has his eye on what’s next, because it’s become clear during his three seasons he’ll never reach any level of satisfaction or complacency until he brings another Super Bowl title to Green Bay.

That said, there are a few pillars to LaFleur’s program that help define his coaching style. Where these rank in their level of contribution to his standout run of early success compared to the players, fellow coaches, front office, etc., is an open question.

But there’s no denying they matter, because there’s no arguing with the results he’s produced so far.

1. He holds himself accountable first.

After any loss, or in discussing anything that doesn’t go right, almost without fail LaFleur will say it starts with him. And he means it. He’s always going to look in the mirror first to examine whether he could have done something better, whether it’s the game plan, the play calls, game management, whatever.

Shouldering the blame lies in contrast to the credit he’s always spreading around, but it speaks to the culture he’s created behind the scenes. He may not call players out in the media the way he calls himself out, but he and his coaches hold them accountable out of the public eye, and they can’t really pass the buck in good conscience when the head coach never does so publicly.