Packers’ Matt LaFleur recognizes he has a future superstar developing on his coaching staff
Jeff Hafley has done an amazing job with Green Bay’s defense.
When the Green Bay Packers hired Jeff Hafley from his Boston College head coaching job out of nowhere, it was a rush to understand what his defense would look like in the NFL. After all, he had some pro experience as a positional coach, but had never called plays in the league. After talking with people who cover BC and checking his coaching background, we wrote here that Hafley was the anti-Joe Barry.
Twenty months later, the description looks precise. Not necessarily for schematic reasons like we mentioned in that piece, but because Hafley has a rare mind to adapt his scheme to his players, and an ability to maximize what he has.
Sure, Hafley has more talent with the additions of Micah Parsons and Xavier McKinney. But he has taken the most out of his group consistently, something that Barry could never do throughout his three seasons in Green Bay.
“[Hafley] has done a great job. He’s got a great football mind,” head coach Matt LaFleur admitted. “He understands how to attack people and put a lot of pressure on a really good offense, mixing it up.
“From an offensive standpoint, that’s always tough when you’re not quite sure what somebody’s going to do. You’ve got to give credit to our players to be able to take what Half and our defensive staff is giving them and then go out there and execute, presenting different looks or presenting a certain look and playing something off of it. I think our safeties play a huge role in that. Our backers as well. We’ve got a lot of smart players out there, and that allows us to do what we’re doing.”
Future head coach
When the Packers rebuilt their defensive coaching staff last year, getting more capable future coordinators was part of the process. LaFleur should be glad he took that approach, because Hafley could soon become a head coach.
He spent four seasons as the top coach at Boston College, and moved to defensive coordinator in the NFL because he just wanted to be a real coach. With NIL and the transfer portal, the life of a college head coach has become completely different. But Hafley has the leadership and communication skills, plus the schematic acumen to lead an NFL franchise.
The presumptive successor for Hafley in Green Bay would be Anthony Campanile, but the linebackers coach and run game coordinator left the team to become the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defensive coordinator this offseason.
Right now, the most likely internal candidates would be defensive line coach/run game coordinator DeMarcus Covington and passing game coordinator Derrick Ansley. Both have done an excellent job as positional coaches, but have had failed experiences as defensive coordinators.
That’s talk for another day, though. Meanwhile, LaFleur is focused on winning this year. And he couldn’t be more satisfied with the production of his defense.
“Just physical, aggressive, attacking, the play style is exactly what we want from these guys,” LaFleur said after the win over the Washington Commanders. “It always starts with the energy and effort. That’s going to get you through and can overcome some of the mistakes. I thought our front is extremely disruptive getting after the quarterback. […] Half’s done a hell of a job. I think our players are doing a great job feeding off one another. It’s definitely exciting to watch our defense go out there and perform because I think they allow us to get up on somebody.”
After difficult times at the end of Dom Capers’ era and frustrating tenures with Mike Pettine and Joe Barry, the Packers have finally found a real defensive version of LaFleur, and the early results have been truly impressive.
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