By Tim Gutowski Published Feb 01, 2005 at 5:07 AM

{image1} Being a Packers fan in 2004 was both a tiring and a trying thing. From week to week, the Packers alternately looked like world-beaters or bottom-feeders, but there was always one thing that was perfectly clear: the defense stunk, absolutely and without fail.

So it's no surprise that new defensive coordinator Jim Bates' hiring last week was greeted by statewide excitement. Once again, the faithful are pointing toward next season's Super Bowl. And I believe there's a legitimate chance the Packers can get there.

This isn't to say Green Bay is the odds-on favorite to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XL (that's 40, to you and me) in Detroit (unfortunately) -- there is far too much off-season left to even discuss that. But Mike Sherman's team is a sure bet to improve defensively, which logically means the team should improve, too.

There are other factors. First, Brett Favre could retire (though the chances of him returning may improve with Bates' arrival). The running game could be depleted by free agency, both on the line (Marco Rivera, Mike Wahle) and in the backfield (Najeh Davenport). And maybe the defensive talent really is as awful as it looked this year.

But I'm betting on Bates. Therefore, I'm betting on the Green Bay Packers to improve in 2005.

Hold on a minute, you say -- players play and coaches coach, and the Packers defensive players aren't good enough. I grant you that, at least partially (there are some good players in this group, they just didn't play like it this year). But coaches matter.

Look no further than the effect that 2003 defensive coordinator Ed Donatell's departure had on this year's defense. The '03 Packers will forever be remembered for the one stop they didn't make in Philadelphia. But Donatell's unit did one thing extremely well during his tenure -- it took away the football. In 2002, the Packers had a whopping 45 take-aways. The Packers then forced 32 turnovers in 2003. But in 2004, under Bob Slowik, that total slid all the way to 14! Mike McKenzie's departure did not explain this backslide: the x-factor was Donatell ... and his daily teaching and preaching about the take-away.

Donatell never led a dominating Packers defense, but his units had an aggressive mentality. In fact, a gutsy blitz call against Seattle in the 2003 playoffs led to Al Harris' memorable interception return and got the Packers into the second round.

Slowik did not seem to have a particular philosophy. He was a blitz man early on, and the Packers blitzed well against a beat-up Carolina team in Week One. But he shied away from blitzing and got cautious as the year progressed. He flipped back and forth from zone to man-to-man coverage in the secondary. And several Packers defenders claimed his inconsistent schemes fared largely in the team's overall poor play.

Outside of Patriots defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, who appears to be in line for Cleveland's vacant head coaching position, Bates was clearly this off-season's defensive coordinator du jour. So there is some concern the Packers are merely wishing away their problems by hiring the latest hot coaching candidate.

And that could be. But Bates has direction, and his units have the right mindset. His players don't complain about leadership, and there is no confusion over schemes. Bates brings rushers off the ends, plays as little zone as possible and doesn't rely on gimmick packages. He runs honest defenses predicated on speed. His pass defenses are accomplished, though the Dolphins ranked 31st versus the run last year. He stresses technique. And he is universally considered to be an enthusiastic, no-nonsense coach.

Doesn't that sound like precisely what the 2005 Packers need? Have you ever seen a less passionate defensive bunch than this year? It's never fun to give up 33 TD passes and make just seven interceptions, so maybe that was part of the problem. But a little enthusiasm and some reliable open-field tackling could go a long way toward improving the entire team's mien.

Among all the stats necessitating Slowik's dismissal, none was more powerful than the obvious fact that young players regressed under his stewardship. Nick Barnett looked lost more often than not. Ahmad Carroll seemed to get worse every game. Cletidus Hunt took more days off then the President. And even veterans like Darren Sharper seemed to make fewer plays than normal.

A new coach is never a magic bullet, especially one with substandard talent, but this move feels right. For the effect such a move can have, look no further than Madison this past season, where Bret Bielema inherited a Badgers defense that had lost its edge over the last few years. Bielema took the same basic group of players and turned it into one of the best defenses in college football. Sure, Erasmus James helped, but Bielema had a lot to do with it, too.

College isn't the NFL, you say. Apples to oranges. OK, maybe so. But to the malnourished, any shiny piece of fruit looks pretty good at the moment.

Sports shots columnist Tim Gutowski was born in a hospital in West Allis and his sporting heart never really left. He grew up in a tiny town 30 miles west of the city named Genesee and was in attendance at County Stadium the day the Brewers clinched the 1981 second-half AL East crown. I bet you can't say that.

Though Tim moved away from Wisconsin (to Iowa and eventually the suburbs of Chicago) as a 10-year-old, he eventually found his way back to Milwaukee. He remembers fondly the pre-Web days of listenting to static-filled Brewers games on AM 620 and crying after repeated Bears' victories over the Packers.