Tale of 2 LaFleurs: Mike soars in Arizona debut as brother Matt faces the heat in Green Bay

As brothers, they are extremely close. As head coaches, they are on opposite ends of the NFL spectrum. 

The LaFleur family is the NFL in a fishbowl, the NFL in a shot glass. A place where the arrow is either pointing straight up or straight down.  

In Arizona, Mike LaFleur is gathering flowers. He was one of four head coaches to win his NFL debut in Week 1, joining Jesse Minter (Baltimore), Klint Kubiak (Las Vegas) and Joe Brady (Buffalo). Yet LaFleur’s victory was different. His debut embarrassed the highly decorated Jim Harbaugh, the well-respected Mike McDaniel and the heavily favored Chargers in their own building. His victory was by far the most surprising of all the newbies. 

In Green Bay, Matt LaFleur is feeling something different. He’s feeling serious heat. His team blew a 21-3 lead over the rival Bears in the 2025 playoffs. His team blew a 22-10 lead to the Vikings on Sunday, allowing a Carson Wentz-led offense to score 29 unanswered points, including 22 in the fourth quarter.  

It gets worse. Matt was recently called “a clown” by Aaron Rodgers and was widely ripped for his soft comments on Josh Jacobs. The older brother now occupies the hottest seat in the NFL just one week into a new season. 

All of this must be surreal for young Mike, who is just 39. His brother is 46, an age difference that would suggest more reverence than fierce brotherly competition. Matt clearly earned his status, winning 76 regular season games in his first seven seasons in Green Bay, when he was considered among the transcendent young head coaches in the game. 

But this is the NFL, a league that always bites back.  

Having spent time with Matt, I can attest to an older brother who is deeply invested in his younger sibling. Matt was instrumental in convincing Nathaniel Hackett to join the Cardinals as offensive coordinator, shortly after Hackett was announced as the new quarterbacks coach in Miami. The whole family showed up for Mike’s introductory press conference in Arizona as a show of support.   

And now Mike is 1-0, the first Cardinals head coach to win a Week 1 debut since the legendary Don Coryell; his older brother Matt is 0-1 and the target of great vitriol. The difference is like an ocean in between the waves.  

The younger LaFleur deserves this moment. He is authentic and likeable and transparent. He was handed unnecessary distractions in Arizona, forced to tap dance around Josh Sweat’s alleged unhappiness and Jacoby Brissett’s contract saga. Somehow, he pulled it off while keeping the collective energy flowing in the right direction. 

The younger LaFleur is also smart enough to stay humble. He knows the business of winning football games can be grossly unfair, and he doesn’t have to look far to see how quickly things can go wrong in the NFL. His older brother is proof.

Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7.

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