Entering his 24th season as a coach in the NFL, Tom Clements begins his 13th year with the Packers after rejoining the team as quarterbacks coach in 2022 after previously coaching with the team in a variety of roles from 2006-16.
Hired by Head Coach Matt LaFleur on Feb. 18, 2022, Clements (KLEMM-ints) originally joined the Packers in 2006, serving as quarterbacks coach from 2006-11 before working as the team's offensive coordinator (2012-14) and the associate head coach/offense (2015-16). He served as the pass game coordinator/quarterbacks for the Arizona Cardinals in 2019-20. Clements also coached QBs for the New Orleans Saints (1997-99), Kansas City Chiefs (2000) and Pittsburgh Steelers (2001-03) and served as the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills (2004-05).
Last season, he reunited with QB Aaron Rodgers, who ranked tied for No. 5 in the NFL in completions of 20-plus yards (53) and No. 7 in TD passes (26). Clements also worked with QB Jordan Love, who appeared in four games and completed 14 of 21 passes (66.7 pct.) for 195 yards and a TD and no INTs for a 112.2 rating.
In Arizona, Clements tutored QB Kyler Murray, who was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year by The Associated Press in 2019 after becoming just the sixth QB in league history with 3,500-plus passing yards and 500-plus rushing yards in a season. Murray also set an NFL rookie record with 211 consecutive passing attempts without an interception. The Cardinals were tied for No. 9 in the league in giveaways in '19 after ranking No. 27 in the category in 2018, and set a team record with seven zero-giveaway games. In 2020, Clements helped Murray become the first QB in team history to be named to the Pro Bowl within his first two seasons as he set single-season franchise records for rushing yards (819) and rushing TDs (11) by a quarterback and became just the second QB in NFL history with 25-plus passing TDs (26) and 10-plus rushing TDs in a season.
During Clements' first 11 seasons with Green Bay, the Packers finished in the top 10 in the NFL in scoring offense and total offense nine times each and ranked No. 2 in the league over that span in giveaways (218). In his three seasons as offensive coordinator (2012-14), the Packers ranked in the top five in the NFL over that span in scoring (No. 3, 27.8 ppg), total offense (No. 5, 381.9 ypg) and giveaways (No. 3, 54). During Clements' 11 seasons with the Packers, Rodgers was selected to six Pro Bowls (2009, 2011-12, 2014-16), was twice named league MVP (2011, 2014) and became the first QB in NFL history to register a 100-plus rating in six consecutive seasons (2009-14).
In 2016, Clements helped guide the Packers to their eighth consecutive postseason berth (2009-16), tied for the fourth-longest streak in league history. Green Bay ranked No. 4 in the league in scoring (27.0 ppg) and No. 8 in total offense (368.8 ypg), while Rodgers (40) became the first Green Bay quarterback to lead the league in TD passes since Brett Favre in 2003 and set the franchise single-season mark for completions with 401.
In 2014, Clements guided the offense as the Packers led the NFL in scoring with 486 points (30.4 ppg), the third most in a season in team history. Green Bay was tied for the top mark in the league in '14 with 13 giveaways and set a single-season team mark for the most first downs to that point with 356. Rodgers finished in the top three in the NFL in passer rating, TD passes, TD/INT ratio and yards per attempt, the only QB in the league to do so, on his way to earning league AP Most Valuable Player honors, while WRs Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb became the first duo in NFL history to both register 90-plus catches, 1,200-plus receiving yards and 12-plus TD catches in the same season.
In 2013, Clements helped the Packers generate 6,404 yards of total offense (No. 3 in the NFL), the second most in franchise history (6,482 in 2011). Green Bay's rushing average of 133.5 yards per game was the team's best mark since 2003 and RB Eddie Lacy rushed for 1,178 yards, the most by a rookie in team history, on his way to being selected to the Pro Bowl and being named AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. The Packers averaged 266.8 passing yards per game despite starting four different quarterbacks on the season as Rodgers missed seven contests due to a collarbone injury. In Week 11 at the N.Y. Giants, QB Scott Tolzien threw for 339 yards, the most ever by a Green Bay QB in his first career start.
In 2012, Clements coordinated an offense that ranked No. 5 in the NFL in scoring (27.1 ppg), tied for No. 2 in giveaways (16) and No. 3 in red-zone efficiency (68.1 percent). Rodgers led the NFL in passer rating (108.0) for the second straight season and also ranked No. 1 in TD/INT ratio (4.88) and No. 2 in TD passes (39). WR James Jones led the league with a career-high 14 TD catches, becoming the first Packer to do so since WR Sterling Sharpe (18) in 1994, and TE Jermichael Finley set a single-season franchise record for tight ends with 61 receptions.
As quarterbacks coach, Clements' extensive tutelage of Rodgers paid dividends, culminating with a 2011 campaign that saw him earn league MVP honors. Rodgers set an NFL single-season record with a 122.5 passer rating and ranked No. 1 in the league in yards per attempt (franchise-record 9.25) and No. 2 in TD passes (45). Clements also tutored QB Matt Flynn, a seventh-round choice by the club in 2008, as he set single-game franchise records in the 2011 season finale with 480 passing yards and six TDs (both later matched by Rodgers) vs. Detroit. Combined with Rodgers' five TD passes the previous week vs. Chicago, it marked the first time in the history of the NFL that a team had two different QBs each throw five-plus TDs in consecutive games.
Rodgers' first 4,000-yard season in 2008 gave the Packers 4,000-yard passers in consecutive seasons for just the second time in team history to that point, and for the first time in league history those back-to-back 4,000-yard passers were different QBs. The previous two seasons, in addition to tutoring Rodgers as the backup and heir apparent, Clements oversaw a mini-renaissance of Favre's career. In 2006, Favre reduced his interceptions from a career-high 29 the year before to just 18, setting the stage for a near-MVP season in 2007, when he surpassed 4,000 yards passing for the fifth time and led the Packers back to the playoffs.
Before coming to Green Bay, Clements spent two seasons (2004-05) as offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills. In 2004, the offense increased its scoring output by 152 points and reduced its number of sacks allowed from 51 to 38. In 2005, RB Willis McGahee became the fifth running back in Bills history to register back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and QB Kelly Holcomb set a club single-season record with a 67.4 completion percentage (now ranks No. 2 in team history).
Prior to joining the Bills, Clements served as Pittsburgh's quarterbacks coach for three seasons (2001-03), where he helped Tommy Maddox earn the Comeback Player of the Year award from AP in 2002. Clements also worked with Pittsburgh's Kordell Stewart (2001) and Kansas City's Elvis Grbac (2000) during each quarterback's best season, both culminating in Pro Bowl berths. Clements' first NFL coaching job came with the Saints (1997-99), where he tutored QBs Jake Delhomme and Kerry Collins.
Prior to his post with the Saints, Clements served under Lou Holtz as quarterbacks coach (1992-94) and wide receivers/assistant head coach (1995) at his alma mater, Notre Dame. While with the Fighting Irish, Clements coached eventual 1993 NFL Rookie of the Year QB Rick Mirer, and WR Derrick Mayes, the Packers' second-round draft pick in 1996. In addition, Clements tutored QB Ron Powlus, Notre Dame's career passing leader in attempts, completions, yardage and touchdowns at the time of his graduation.
Inducted into the Canadian Football League's Hall of Fame in 1994, Clements played QB for Ottawa (1975-78), Saskatchewan/Hamilton (1979), Hamilton (1981-82) and Winnipeg (1983-87) during a 12-year career in the CFL. Selected seven times as a divisional All-Star, Clements guided Ottawa (1976) and Winnipeg (1984) to Grey Cup championships, earning the Outstanding Offensive Player award in each game. The league's Rookie of the Year in 1975 and Most Valuable Player in 1987, Clements completed 2,807 of 4,657 passes (60.3 percent) for 39,041 yards and 252 touchdowns during his CFL career. He also spent one season, 1980, as a quarterback for Marv Levy's Kansas City Chiefs.
A three-year starter at Notre Dame (1972-74) under Ara Parseghian, Clements led the Irish to a 29-5 record, including an unblemished national championship season in 1973. An All-American in 1974, he finished fourth in Heisman Trophy balloting when Archie Griffin earned the award. Clements received his degree in economics from Notre Dame in 1975.
A licensed attorney, Clements worked from 1988-92 for Bell, Boyd & Lloyd (now known as K&L Gates), a Chicago-based law firm. He pursued his law degree during his playing career, graduating magna cum laude from Notre Dame's School of Law in 1986. In 1994, while on the Notre Dame coaching staff, Clements was an adjunct associate professor of law at the university's law school, where he taught "Sports and the Law."
Clements was born June 18, 1953, in McKees Rocks, Pa. He and his wife, Kathe, have a daughter, Stevie, and a son, Tommy.
