Larry Beightol, a former NFL offensive line coach who spent time with the Green Bay Packers, died on Thursday, Apr. 4, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the team announced. He was 81 years old. The Packers said Beightol died of heart failure, dementia and complications from diabetes.
Beightol joined the Packers to be their offensive line coach in 1999. He spent one season with head coach Ray Rhodes before spending another six years with Mike Sherman. As the Packers’ offensive line coach, Beightol tutored legendary players such as Frank Wniters, Marco Rivera, Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher.
During his 22 years as an offensive line coach, Beightol worked for eight NFL teams, including the Atlanta Falcons, (1986), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1987-88), San Diego Chargers (1989) New York Jets (1990-94), Houston Oilers (1995), Miami Dolphins (1996-98), the Packers (1999-2005) and the Detroit Lions (2006).
Beightol was a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and played college football at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. He began his coaching career at the College of William & Mary in 1968 and was a head coach at Louisana Tech, where he went 2-8 in 1979.
Is it the Packers’ year in 2024?
Beightol saw his most success with the Packers as the team made the playoffs four times in his seven seasons. The Packers are coming off a 2023 campaign where they reached the divisional round of the playoffs. But are they Super Bowl-bound in 2024?
Quarterback Jordan Love believes the Packers are on their way to winning a title. “It’s a great feeling, man,” Love said recently on the The Pivot Podcast. “We’re all very hungry for this upcoming year. Like you said, the confidence from top to bottom is there. The organization believes that it’s the perfect time to have a chance to win a Super Bowl this year.
“Those conversations we had after that 49ers game were ‘Work harder, try and find ways to get better because next year we’re gonna do it,’ “ Love added. “There’s no more ‘we’re a young team,’ there’s no more of those what ifs. People know what we’re about now. Obviously, we’ll have that target on our back now, people are gonna want to beat us. We’re hungry.”
The Packers are looking to win its fifth Super Bowl and first since the 2010 season. Overall, the Packers have won 13 championships, winning 11 NFL titles from 1929-1967. They also hold the NFL record for most wins with 799.
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