Sources: Packers OC Bennett and QB coach Van Pelt let go

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• Rob Demovsky

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  ESPN Staff Writer

  • Covered Packers for Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1997-2013
  • Two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year as selected by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association

• Chris Mortensen

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  NFL reporter

  • ESPN Senior NFL Analyst
  • Joined ESPN in 1991
  • George Polk Award winner; Twice nominated for Pulitzer Prize

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers' coaching changes weren't just limited to the defensive side of the ball.

After already deciding to fire defensive coordinator Dom Capers, inside linebackers coach Scott McCurley and defensive line coach Mike Trgovac, the Packers also have chosen to move on from offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett and quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt, sources told ESPN's Chris Mortensen and Rob Demovsky.

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  "Other guys want to get checks. ... Some guys just want to go to the Pro Bowl," Clinton-Dix said. "... So it's hard to build a winning-caliber team."

Van Pelt's contract expired after this season. Bennett was stripped of his offensive coordinator title, and there was a chance he could have gone back to coaching a position, but that's not expected.

The Packers also are looking for a receivers coach after Luke Getsy left to become offensive coordinator at Mississippi State.

Bennett, a former Packers running back, has been on the team's coaching staff since 2005. He coached running backs until 2010 and receivers from 2010-14, when he became offensive coordinator after Joe Philbin left to coach the Miami Dolphins.

Bennett, however, did not call plays.

Coach Mike McCarthy has handled the offensive play-calling duties since he was hired in 2006, except for a 12-game stretch during the 2015 season when he gave it to then-associate head coach Tom Clements, who is no longer on the staff.

Edgar Bennett was the offensive coordinator but it was head coach Mike McCarthy who called the plays for a Packers unit that ranked 26th in total offense this season. Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Van Pelt, a former NFL quarterback for the Bills, has been on McCarthy's staff since 2012. He coached running backs for two years before he took over the quarterbacks (he also coached receivers and quarterback in 2015).

The Packers may pursue Philbin to return as offensive coordinator. Philbin was the Colts offensive line coach last season. They also could consider Giants coach Ben McAdoo, who was on McCarthy's staff in Green Bay from 2006-13.

Offensive line coach James Campen, the longest tenured Packers assistant coach, also could be under consideration for the offensive coordinator job. Campen, a former Packers player and one of the most respected offensive line coaches in the NFL, has been on the staff 2004.

The position likely would not involve calling plays; McCarthy said that when he took the play-calling duties back in 2015 that he would always call plays as long as he was the head coach.

McCarthy is expected to address the changes at his season wrap-up news conference Thursday.

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