Packers add final piece to an intriguing new defensive staff
The Green Bay Packers have completed the most important positions of their defensive coaching staff. On Tuesday night, the team agreed to terms with former Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley to be the Packers' pass game coordinator, according to ESPN’s reporter Rob Demovsky. Role The pass game coordinator role was added by Matt […]
The Green Bay Packers have completed the most important positions of their defensive coaching staff. On Tuesday night, the team agreed to terms with former Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley to be the Packers' pass game coordinator, according to ESPN’s reporter Rob Demovsky.
Role
The pass game coordinator role was added by Matt LaFleur in 2021 as a way to promote then veteran defensive backs coach Jerry Gray, who held the position for two seasons before leaving for a job with the Atlanta Falcons.
Last year, Greg Williams was hired for the position. When Green Bay hired Jeff Hafley as its new defensive coordinator, Williams was informed that he would not be retained and was allowed to take interviews elsewhere.
With the Ansley addition, the Packers will actually have three coaches specialized on defensive backs. Besides him, there will be Hafley himself, who has a background with secondary, and defensive backs coach Ryan Downard, who was retained by head coach Matt LaFleur.
Career history
Derrick Ansley is 42 years old and started his coaching career in 2005 as the DBs coach at Huntingdon. After a two-year stint as a graduate assistant at Alabama in 2010 and 2011, Ansley got new opportunities as a college defensive backs coach at Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama again.
His first NFL job came in 2018, as the Oakland Raiders DBs coach – there, he worked with current Packers assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia.
Ansley went back to college football to be Tennessee's defensive coordinator and DBs coach, but returned to the NFL in 2021 to work with Brandon Staley.
He spent two years as the Chargers' DB coach before being promoted to a non-playcalling defensive coordinator position.
Ansley did, however, call plays for the last three games of the season, after Brandon Staley got fired. And he actually had impressive results, albeit in a small sample size.
The Chargers improved from 27th to 18th in dropback EPA and from 27th to fourth in dropback success rate in the last three weeks of the year.
Staff
The Packers might still add lower-level assistants or quality control coaches, but the most important positions on the defensive coaching staff are filled.
Behind defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, former pass rush specialist Jason Rebrovich was promoted to defensive line coach. Hafley brought in Vince Oghobaase from Boston College, and he will be the assistant DL coach.
Former Miami Dolphins linebackers coach Anthony Campanile, who interviewed for the New York Giants DC job, will be the Packers' linebackers coach and run game coordinator.
And, as mentioned above, Derrick Ansley will be the pass game coordinator, while Ryan Downard keeps his position as the defensive backs coach.
On offense, changes are not expected. The only addition so far is former quarterback Sean Mannion, who was hired to an undisclosed position on the staff.
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