The 2009 Green Bay Packers season was the team's 91st season overall and their 89th in the National Football League (NFL). The Packers finished with an 11–5 record but lost in the wild card round of the playoffs to the Arizona Cardinals by a score of 51–45. They scored a then franchise record 461 points (currently the fourth best behind the 2011, 2014, and 2020 teams) besting the 1996 Super Bowl team's 456. Charles Woodson was named Defensive Player of the Year for the season, leading the league with 9 interceptions. The defense ranked 1st in the league against the run.
Offseason
Additions On March 9, former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Anthony Smith was signed to a two-year contract. On March 30, former Buffalo Bills center Duke Preston was signed to a two-year contract. On April 14, former New York Giants practice squad nose tackle Brian Soi was signed to a contract.http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2009/04/14/3/ Packers Sign NT Soi . Accessed 2009-06-19. Archived 2009-06-22. On June 16, tight end Devin Frischknecht was signed to a contract.http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2009/06/15/1/ Packers Sign Three Draft Picks . Accessed 2009-06-19. Archived 2009-06-22. On August 13, linebacker Stryker Sulak was signed to a contracthttp://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/53163177.html In focus: OLB Stryker Sulak. Accessed 2009-08-15. Archived 2009-08-17. On September 5, safety Derrick Martin was received from the Baltimore Ravens in a trade for Tony Moll. On September 6, wide receiver Jake Allen, quarterback Brian Brohm, cornerback Trevor Ford, linebacker Cyril Obiozor, running back Kregg Lumpkin, offensive tackle Jamon Meredith, defensive end Ronald Talley and nose tackle Anthony Toribio were signed to practice squad a day after they were all cut from the active roster and cleared waivers.
Departures On March 1, the Seattle Seahawks signed defensive tackle Colin Cole to a contract. On April 6, defensive end Kenny Pettway was released. On April 13, long snapper J. J. Jansen was traded to the Carolina Panthers for a conditional future draft pick. On April 27, center Brennen Carvalho was released.http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2009/04/27/1/ Packers Waive C Carvalho On May 1, nose tackle Fred Bledsoe was released.http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2009/05/01/2/ Packers Waive NT Bledsoe. Accessed 2009-06-19. Archived 2009-06-22. On May 4, linebacker Jason Hunter was released.http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2009/05/04/1/ Packers Sign Four Players, Release LB Hunter . Accessed 2009-06-19. Archived 2009-06-22. On June 9, punter Adam Graessle and nose tackle Brian Soi were released.http://www.packers.com/news/transactions/2009/ Green Bay Packers 2009 Transactions & Free Agents. Accessed 2009-06-19. Archived 2009-06-22. On June 16, cornerback Joshua Abrams was released. On June 23, wide receiver Lorne Sam was released.http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2009/06/23/1/ Packers Release WR Sam On June 24, guard Nevin McCaskill was released.http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2009/06/24/4/ Packers Release G McCaskill On July 22, tight end Carson Butler was released.http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2009/07/22/2/ Packers Release TE Carson Butler. Accessed 2009-08-04. Archived 2009-08-06. On July 30, wide receiver Jamarko Simmons was released.http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2009/07/30/3/ Packers Release WR Jamarko Simmons On August 19, tight end Tory Humphrey was released. On August 20, wide receiver Patrick Williams was released. On August 25, center Duke Preston was released. On August 31, punter Durant Brooks, wide receiver JaRon Harris and linebacker Stryker Sulak were released. On September 5, wide receiver Jake Allen, quarterback Brian Brohm, cornerback Trevor Ford, guard Andrew Hartline, wide receiver Kole Heckendorf, lnside linebacker Danny Lansanah, running back Kregg Lumpkin, defensive end Alfred Malone, wide receiver Ruvell Martin, Offensive tackle Jamon Meredith, nose tackle Dean Muhtadi, outside linebacker Cyril Obiozor, cornerback Joe Porter, offensive tackle Dane Randolph, safety Anthony Smith, running back Tyrell Sutton, defensive end Ronald Talley and nose tackle Anthony Toribio were all released. On September 5, Tony Moll was traded to the Baltimore Ravens for safety Derrick Martin.
Training camp and preseason injuries On May 27, tight end Travis Dekker was placed on reserve/military reserve. On August 13, tight end Tory Humphrey was placed on injured reserve. On August 14, wide receiver Patrick Williams was placed on injured reserve. On August 25, tight end Devin Frischknecht was placed on injured reserve. On September 5, defensive end Justin Harrell, cornerback Pat Lee, tight end Evan Moore and safety Charlie Peprah were placed on injured reserve.
Free agents Position Player Free agencytag Date signed 2009 team FB John Kuhn RFA April 17 Green Bay Packers WR Shaun Bodiford RFA/UFA May 9 New York Giants WR Ruvell Martin RFA April 17 Green Bay Packers TE Tory Humphrey RFA April 6 Green Bay Packers OT Mark Tauscher UFA October 12 Green Bay Packers DT Colin Cole UFA March 1 Seattle Seahawks OLB Jason Hunter RFA March 16 Green Bay Packers DE Mike Montgomery UFA March 23 Green Bay Packers CB Jarrett Bush RFA March 16 Green Bay Packers CB Tramon Williams ERFA May 28 Green Bay Packers SS Atari Bigby RFA April 17 Green Bay PackersRFA: Restricted free agent, UFA: Unrestricted free agent, ERFA: Exclusive rights free agent
Notes: : Did not receive a restricted free agent qualifying offer from the Packers and became an unrestricted free agent. : Although the Packers did choose to retain him from free agency he was later waived on May 4. He was signed by the rival Detroit Lions two days later.
Coaching changes After a struggling 2008 season on defense and special teams, head coach Mike McCarthy decided in January to fire most of the defensive coaching staff. The coaching staff changes made during the offseason are as follows:
On January 2, Special teams coordinator Mike Stock retired. On January 5, Defensive coordinator Bob Sanders, Defensive ends coach Carl Hairston defensive tackles coach Robert Nunn, secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer, cornerbacks coach Lionel Washington and strength and conditioning coordinator Rock Gullickson were all fired. On January 6, Joe Whitt Jr. was promoted from defensive quality control to cornerbacks coach. On January 7, Offensive quality control coach Ty Knott was fired. On January 14, Special teams assistant Shawn Slocum was promoted to special teams coordinator. On January 15, Curtis Fuller was hired as special teams assistant coach. On January 18, Dom Capers was hired as defensive coordinator. On January 22, John Rushing was hired as an offensive quality control coach. On January 23, Mike Trgovac was hired as the defensive line coach. On January 26, Kevin Greene was hired as outside linebackers coach. On January 27, Darren Perry was hired as safeties coach. On January 28, Dave Redding was hired as strength and conditioning coach. On February 3, Scott McCurley was promoted from coaching administrator to defensive quality control. Chad Morton was hired to replace him as coaching administrator.
Switch from 4–3 to 3–4 defense On January 18 it was announced that with the hiring of defensive coordinator Dom Capers that the Packers would switch their base defensive scheme from a 4–3 to a 3–4 scheme which implements three down linemen and four linebackers instead of four down linemen and three linebackers in the traditional 4–3. While the defense will now be based out of the 3–4, head coach Mike McCarthy stated that they will also use some four man fronts thus being more of a hybrid 3-4/4-3 defense.
In a February 3 press conference to introduce the new assistant coaches to the media, McCarthy was asked if defensive end Aaron Kampman would play outside linebacker in the new 3–4 defense. He responded: "Well, it depends on what personnel we have on the field. When we line up in the first base defense, yeah, Aaron will be an outside linebacker."
Another notable question was which position group has to make the biggest transition, he replied: "Terminology-wise, they're learning a new language ... and I think that's good for everybody. That touches every player. Technique-wise, there's definitely going to be some carryover – there always is, particularly in sub-fronts. You may look at some of our subpackages, and you may not think there's a whole lot of difference compared to what we've done in the past."
He was also asked, is change good, he replied: "Change creates excitement. ... The Green Bay Packers organization will never lack for energy. It's such a great place to work from a culture standpoint, the passion of all the people that work here. But there's definitely a ton of energy on the third floor right now. Today's exciting. We're finally all back. Everybody's here, our staff is complete. So, you can just tell by the response of the players and the people close to the football team, everybody's excited about our new direction."
Training camp The Packers held their training camp sessions at the newly constructed Ray Nitschke Field behind the Don Hutson Center. Practices will be moved inside the Don Hutson Center during inclement weather. St. Norbert College served as the team base for all living arrangements for the 52nd consecutive season.
There were competitions for starting jobs on the offensive line due to the team looking for stability on the offensive line at center and right guard, and a replacement for longtime starter at right tackle, Mark Tauscher.
On defense, the main competition for starting jobs in the new 3–4 scheme took place at outside linebacker position opposite Aaron Kampman. Second-year pro defensive end turned linebacker Jeremy Thompson was initially placed as the starter for right outside linebacker, although rookie Clay Matthews III competed for the position as well.
On special teams, punters Jeremy Kapinos and Durant Brooks competed for the Packers punting job.
On August 8 the Packers scheduled a "Family Night" inter-squad scrimmage at 7:30 pm CST at Lambeau Field, but due to inclement weather the event was canceled.
After the canceled scrimmage, the Packers released their first depth chart of the season. In the position battles listed above, Allen Barbre was listed as the starting right tackle. At the center position, Scott Wells was listed as the starter with Jason Spitz starting at his normal right guard spot on the line. As stated above, Jeremy Thompson was listed as the starting right outside linebacker. In the highly contested battle between punters Jeremy Kapinos and Durant Brooks, Kapinos was listed as the starter.
During the morning practice on the Monday after their second preseason matchup vs the Buffalo Bills, It became apparent that Scott Wells had lost his starting center position to Jason Spitz, with Josh Sitton replacing Spitz at right guard and Allen Barbre continued to hold the starting reps at right tackle. These changes were also later reflected on the teams depth chart on Packers.com.
Another change on the depth chart was Johnny Jolly replacing rookie first round draft pick B. J. Raji and Justin Harrell at left defensive end due to Jolly's explosive performance in the first two preseason contests of the season, which included two sacks and a forced fumble vs Buffalo.
The third change of note made was Brady Poppinga regaining his starting outside linebacker spot on the depth chart ahead of Jeremy Thompson and rookie first-round pick Clay Matthews. Thompson and Matthews though still have a chance to take the starting spot.