Before his NFL head coach debut with the Arizona Cardinals, Mike LaFleur got a surprise phone call. It turned out to be his older brother, Matt, who wanted to check in on his brother before his big day.
The phone call was part of NBC’s broadcast of the Hall of Fame Game between the Cardinals and Carolina Panthers. Awful Announcing provided the video on X.
The phone call started with some friendly banter between the two brothers and how they run their respective teams. Matt then shifted to encourage his younger brother before his first game as an NFL head coach.
“Hey man, you earned this (opportunity),” said Matt. “Go let it rip, have fun. I’m proud of you.”
As part of that segment, the younger LaFleur brother was mic’d up. He was asked if he expected this phone call from the studio.
The Cardinals ended up losing 33-30 on a last-second touchdown by the Panthers. The story from the game was rookie quarterback Carson Beck’s impressive performance in his NFL preseason debut.
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This isn’t the first time that Matt LaFleur has been involved with his younger brother’s coaching career. Matt attended Mike’s introductory press conference with the Cardinals.
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Matt LaFleur is currently the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. He’ll enter his eighth season on the job, while Mike is in his first head coaching stop with the Cardinals. Both brothers were previously offensive coordinators before getting hired as head coaches.
Another underlying connection between the two brothers is offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Hackett will be the OC under both LaFleur brothers after the Cardinals hired the 46-year-old in February.
The LaFleurs are the second set of brothers to be NFL head coaches at the same time. Both John and Jim Harbaugh are currently running the New York Giants and Los Angeles Chargers. Jon and Jay Gruden coached the Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Commanders in 2018 and 2019.
Matt LaFleur is already taking a vested interest in Mike’s coaching career from afar. The Packers are already considered a contender in the NFC, while the Cardinals are embarking on a bit of a rebuild. It would add a level of intrigue to the relationships between the two brothers when Arizona next plays Green Bay.
The two teams will play each other this preseason. The Cardinals will travel to Lambeau Field on August 28 to take on the Packers to close out their preseason slate of games. The next anticipated regular-season meeting won’t be until the 2027 season at the earliest.
The Cardinals certainly hope this turns into a sibling rivalry, with postseason aspirations on the line between the two NFC teams. However, the first step for Mike LaFleur will be to improve Arizona’s win total from their 2025 total of three. A lot of things will need to go right for the Cardinals to become respectable again.
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