Green Bay has landed on a defensive coordinator hire. The Packers are set to bring in Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley as their new DC, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports. 
Hafley took his first NFL coaching gig in 2012 when he became an assistant defensive backs coach with the Buccaneers. He took charge of Tampa’s DBs the following season, later doing the same with the Browns and 49ers. Hafley returned to the college ranks in 2019, serving as Ohio State’s co-defensive coordinator. That led him to Boston College’s head coaching role, which he held from 2020-23.
The 44-year-old did not have a known connection to an NFL DC posting since 2019. That includes being off the radar, in terms of known interviews, of the Packers through this year’s search. In a move which came as little surprise, Green Bay elected to fire Joe Barry after the team’s divisional round elimination. A long list of candidates emerged to fill the opening, but the team has gone in a different direction.
The Packers conducted at least three interviews for their Barry replacement, and another was lined up. Other staffers, including sought-after Panthers DC Ejiro Evero, were named as potential Green Bay targets. None of them have landed the position, though, one which will come with serious expectations given the highly-drafted players present on the Packers’ defense and the unit’s shortcomings under Barry.
Green Bay posted finishes of 13th, 17th and 10th in terms of points allowed over the past three seasons. Struggles against the run in particular were present for much of Barry’s tenure, and improvement in that regard will no doubt be a priority for Hafley. The latter led the Eagles to a 22-26 record during his time in charge, earning bowl eligibility for the school three times.
Boston College allowed an average of 28.3 points and just under 384 yards per game in 2023 while generating 1.3 takeaways per contest. Green Bay posted only seven interceptions in 2023, and better production in the secondary would go a long way toward overall improvement on defense moving forward. Hafley’s background working with defensive backs could help in that regard.
As Thamel notes, Hafley and head coach Matt LaFleur are close friends. Their relationship will now continue at the NFL level, with the former becoming the third DC in the latter’s time at the helm in Green Bay. The Packers’ defense will be worth watching closely as Haley makes a long-awaited return to the pro game and takes on his first career NFL coordinator gig.
wasn’t expecting to do this much research on the DC hire, but here we are… guess i will reserve judgment til the season starts…
I think we all figured that if the Packers hired a defensive coordinator from the college ranks, it would be Jim Leonhard.
Don’t know much about Hafley. Like LaFleur, he was on a couple of staffs with Kyle Shanahan, but never with LaFleur.
Leonhard wasn’t even on the packers radar this time around. LaFleur knew better not to even consider him like he did 3 years earlier because he was never interested. This guy we got it good and has 3 years of coaching experience
Always has to try to be cute with his hires. Guess he doesn’t give out trust real easy so he sticks with people he knows, rather than proven success in roles. Put me in the doubter category.
Most coaches with proven success don’t find themselves unemployed. Some teams like to play it safe and hire guys that have been re-cycled several times. Sometimes it pays to think outside the box and go against the conventional approach.
“As Thamel notes, Hafley and head coach Matt LaFleur are close friends.”
Barry and LaFleur were also “close friends”. Unfortunately, this does not bode well. As with Barry, LaFleur will wait far too long to fire a “close friend” even when he is doing a horrendous job….see Barry.
I can see your point but I would say the pressure is on. After playing above expectations this year and arriving maybe a year or two earlier than expected, people will be expecting results and definitely will demand noticeable improvement, especially with all the high-end draft capital spend on that side of the ball.
I’m willing to give him a chance and see how it plays out. Maybe Hafley is a good teacher and a good “tactician” instead of a good “technician”. It seems like the Packers have had more of the latter than the former, not exactly a recipe for success – read “misuse of player talent”
History suggests he won’t pull the plug quickly if this hire doesn’t pan out. He kept Barry despite having a SB-caliber roster and coming up short 2 years in a row.
Just because Love appears to be the next franchise qb doesn’t make me believe he’ll fire THIS friend if he doesn’t turn the defense into a top ranked unit next year.
I read somewhere that we’ll see more college coaches going pro because of NIL. It’s impossible to build teams in college now. Your depth players simply transfer to another school rather sit and learn for a year or 2.
It’s a pretty accurate statement in my opinion. I believe it’s why Saban walked. He can’t have 3-5 star recruits on the bench anymore.
This is very, very underwhelming. I hope I get proven wrong.
On the surface, surprising. Certainly not some retread.
I want it to go well. I’m slightly more optimistic about the hire.