Marshfield native Adam Stenavich making a name for himself as new Packers offensive coordinator

MARSHFIELD – When Marshfield native Adam Stenavich was named offensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers on Jan. 31, it came as little surprise to many who knew him during his formative years.

"We always admired the coaches that he had in Marshfield, they were always good people and good teachers," said Stenavich's mother, Cindy. "He had good examples of what good coaching could be, even from an early age."

Stenavich, who joined the Packers as an offensive line coach in 2019, replaces Nathaniel Hackett, who was hired as head coach of the Denver Broncos. Stenavich becomes the second Wisconsinite to serve as Packers offensive coordinator, joining Milwaukee native Jeff Jagodzinski, who held the position in 2006.

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Despite being rumored to join Hackett in Denver as its offensive coordinator, Stenavich ultimately decided to stay put after being offered the same role in Green Bay. He said staying with the hometown team was a popular choice among friends and family from Marshfield.

"I've gotten a lot of really good texts and conversations with a lot of people back home, and they're all really fired up, it's just awesome," Stenavich told Larry McCarren in an interview posted during Pro Bowl week to the Packers' official website.

One of those exchanges was with his former Marshfield football coach, recently announced National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee Len Luedtke.

"I sent him a text and congratulated him, obviously, and his response was, ‘Thanks coach, I’m fired up.’ That’s the kind of guy he is," Luedtke said.

Former coaches at Marshfield remember Stenavich as a competitive three-sport athlete, respected teammate and leader among his peers. He played left tackle for the Tigers in football, was an intimidating interior presence in basketball and a fundamentally sound left-handed pitcher and first baseman in baseball.

It was ultimately his skills on the gridiron that led him to be recruited by several Division I schools, including the Michigan Wolverines and Wisconsin Badgers. Luedtke called Stenavich "one of our best offensive linemen ever."

"He was an excellent leader in the weight room, so he was a good role model for the kids behind him. He was a class act. He was the kind of kid you wanted your seventh and eighth graders to look up to," Luedtke said.

High school classmate and current Marshfield boys basketball coach Chris Fischer said Stenavich was not shy about holding teammates accountable, something he saw firsthand and in the huddle as a fullback on the same high school team. While Fischer admitted neither were having profound revelations about their futures in the midst of their high school careers, upon reflection he can see qualities in Stenavich that have undoubtedly served him well in his coaching path.

"What stuck out to me was his leadership skills, specifically in football," Fischer said. "When you get to that professional level of coaching, everybody is really good at X’s and O’s and fundamentals, and I think with Adam there’s probably another level of leadership where he’s a really good leader of men, he’s a really good leader of personalities."

Stenavich eventually committed to Michigan for football but did not leave any opportunities to compete in high school on the table, according to former Marshfield baseball coach Mark Zee. The then-graduated senior pursued one more chance to play American Legion baseball the summer before heading off to Michigan, including taking the mound for a number of key games down the stretch of a run to the state tournament. Zee said Stenavich kept calling for the ball, delivering in numerous outings including one of their final games to clinch a state tournament appearance.

"The thing that sticks out in my mind was just how competitive Adam was," Zee said. "I can remember going down to the state tournament with him for Legion and he said, ‘I want the ball for the first game.’ We gave him the ball and he pitched a really, really good game for us and went off to Michigan to the university after that game because he had to go to their training camp."

For Fischer, who has remained in regular contact with Stenavich especially since the latter joined the Packers in 2019, said he is confident his friend will thrive in the new role. While Fischer may have his reservations about rooting for him twice a year when they play his Chicago Bears, he is happy to be one of many in Marshfield wishing him well going forward.

"I don’t think he’s found his ceiling yet," Fischer said. "Who knows what’s to come after that? Maybe a head coach job somewhere. It’s really exciting in this community. There’s a lot of people that are pulling for him."

What's in a (nick)name?

As Stenavich continues to make a name for himself in the NFL, Marshfield friends and former coaches are glad to see the nickname "Steno" has followed him to the Packers. Fischer said hearing Matt LaFleur, Aaron Rodgers and David Bakhtiari refer to Stenavich by the same moniker is emblematic of the friend he has known for 25 years.

"He’s still the easygoing guy that you can easily talk to. As a friend, he’s one of the few guys that you can call up and if you needed something he would do everything in his power to make sure that you were taken care of," Fischer said. "The fact that he’s still hung on to that and people call him Steno means that he hasn’t changed much. He’s stayed true to his roots."

In following some of the early reactions to the promotion from around the Packers building, Zee said he was glad to see some of the same qualities that stood out in a younger Stenavich leading him to career success.

"How hard he works, how people respect him in the locker room, his social skills, that’s Adam, that's Steno," Zee said.

Stenavich made such an impression on his high school baseball coach in particular that when Zee and his wife had a son in 2003, two years after Stenavich's graduation, they named him Adam.

"He was one that you always had that memory where it was just a good memory of having him in our program," Zee said, adding he could not have foreseen his son's namesake rising to the levels he has. "He was just a great high school kid and a great high school player that was going to go on and do better things down the road."

As for whether Stenavich can be the one to influence Rodgers to stay in Green Bay, Luedtke was hopeful but noncommittal.

"Everybody I’ve been talking to around here, you know they say, ‘Hopefully he can try to keep Aaron Rodgers’ and I've been saying, 'Well, maybe he can twist his arm. I don’t know, we’ll see.'" Luedtke said.

Contact USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin sports reporter Zac Bellman at zbellman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ZacBellman_WNY.

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This article originally appeared on Marshfield News-Herald: Marshfield friends and family saw big things for Adam Stenavich