By appointing Jeff Hafley as the Packers’ defensive coordinator, Matt LaFleur takes a huge gamble.
As coordinators of special teams, Shawn Mennenga and Maurice Drayton were a bust. In the eyes of Packer Nation, Joe Barry’s tenure as defensive coordinator lasted three decades.
The Packers’ new defensive coordinator will be Jeff Hafley, the head coach at Boston College, according to LaFleur’s Wednesday dice roll.
The head coach has a finite number of assistant coach and coordinator appointments, according to an old NFL saying. Most teams choose a new head coach at some point.
After guiding the Packers to the playoffs for the fourth year in a row, LaFleur is completely out of trouble. After a string of unsuccessful coordinator hirings, he is counting on Hafley to pull through.
According to LaFleur, “Jeff has had success at every stage of his coaching career, with an exceptional track record of developing players at every level.” This was stated on Wednesday night. “We are excited to have him spearhead our defense.”
The Packers evaluated at least six other candidates before announcing the somewhat surprising choice of Hafley.
Hafley went 22-26 throughout his four seasons with the Eagles, including a 9-15 mark in the last two years. Hafley was definitely on the hot seat at BC this next season, but by departing for the NFL now, he gets a fresh start.
LaFleur and Hafley have never coached together but allegedly are long-time friends. Hafley also spent two years coaching in San Francisco with current New York Jets coach Robert Saleh, who is one of LaFleur’s greatest friends.
Hafley spent his first 11 seasons in the college ranks, including five at Pittsburgh and one at Rutgers. Hafley was the Panthers’ defensive assistant/cornerbacks coach in 2006–07 and their secondary coach from 2008–10, then spent the 2011 season teaching defensive backs at Rutgers.
Hafley moved to the NFL in 2012 and spent two seasons as Tampa Bay’s assistant defensive backs coach and their secondary/safeties coach. He then coached defensive backs in both Cleveland (2014–15) and San Francisco (2016–18).
Hafley was the co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach for Ohio State in 2019, when the Buckeyes ranked No. 1 nationally in yards per play, No. 2 in total defense and No. 2 in passing yards allowed. He then took over at Boston College in 2020.
Hafley replaces Barry after Green Bay’s defenses were remarkably lackluster for the last three years.
The Packers finished 17th in total defense in 2023, and their average rank under Barry has been 14th. Green Bay’s average rank in scoring defense throughout the Barry era was also 14th.
With the season on the line in the divisional playoffs, Barry’s defense collapsed once again.
Green Bay maintained a 21-17 lead with just more than 5 minutes left and needed only one stop to go to the NFC Championship Game. Instead, San Francisco marched 69 yards in 12 plays and scored the go-ahead touchdown when
