The long road to the Lindy Infante era

September 4, 1988

The play: Ed West scores the Packers’ lone touchdown in Lindy Infante’s debut

After the departure of Forrest Gregg, it didn’t take the Packers long to identify their next head coach. Lindy Infante was on their radar essentially from the word go. But it took a long time to reel him in.

Gregg resigned on the evening of January 13, 1988. It was a Wednesday, and by the time the Thursday edition of the Green Bay Press-Gazette went to print, astute Packers watchers had already identified a robust list of candidates. Beat writer Bob McGinn, as sharp a football reporter as there’s ever been, laid out several serious options. That list included Joe Bugel, the offensive line coach for the Washington Redskins, Bob Schnelker, who had taken over as the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings after serving in the same capacity in Green Bay from 1982-85, Mike Shanahan, the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos, Tony Dungy, the defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Infante, the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns. McGinn also floated the possibility of Michigan State head coach George Perles making the leap to the NFL. As it turned out, McGinn’s list was prescient.

Tom Braatz would handle the interviewing, and he was a significant figure in Packers history. With the exception of the lone season Vince Lombardi had served as the team’s general manager while Phil Bengston was the head coach, football authority in Green Bay had always rested with one person: the head coach. With Braatz’s arrival, that approach changed, and with one exception would stay largely unchanged until the present day.

Braatz would have a busy month. He would ultimately interview as many as 15 (and possibly 17) men for the Packers’ head coaching job.

The process gained steam about a week after Gregg’s resignation. By that point, as many as eight coaches had already interviewed or planned to interview for the job, including Chicago running backs coach Johnny Roland and San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator George Seifert. Additionally, throughout the process, Braatz repeatedly made mention of the Packers’ intention to interview a Black candidate for their head coaching gig, and as of January 20, 1988, they had reportedly narrowed that list to just Dennis Green, then the wide receivers coach for the 49ers.

By January 27, two things had emerged from the Packers’ hiring process: a list of finalists and a presumed favorite.

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