Packers hire Boston College HC Jeff Hafley as their new defensive coordinator
The Green Bay Packers have their new defensive coordinator. According to Pete Thamel, ESPN's college football writer, the Packers are hiring Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley. It's an interesting move for both sides. For Hafley, it's curious that he would leave a head coaching opportunity to be a defensive coordinator. According to Thamel, though, […]
The Green Bay Packers have their new defensive coordinator. According to Pete Thamel, ESPN's college football writer, the Packers are hiring Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley.
It's an interesting move for both sides. For Hafley, it's curious that he would leave a head coaching opportunity to be a defensive coordinator. According to Thamel, though, his "reasons for taking the coordinator job are rooted in both the overall state of college football and the opportunity to work for one of the NFL's most respected franchises."
For the Packers, it's some kind of change in relation to what they had done during their hiring process. Head coach Matt LaFleur had only interviewed NFL assistants and one former head coach: former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley, Dallas Cowboys defensive line coach Aden Durde, Buffalo Bills linebackers coach Bobby Babich, Denver Broncos defensive backs coach Christian Parker, Baltimore Ravens defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson, and Baltimore Ravens inside linebackers coach Zach Orr.
Coaching roots
Jeff Hafley has been a college coach for the last four seasons, but he does have a long NFL track record. He first worked in the professional league in 2012, under head coach Greg Schiano — he was an assistant defensive backs coach, then was promoted to DBs coach. Then, in 2014 and 2015, he worked under former Packers DC Mike Pettine for the Cleveland Browns.
Between 2016 and 2018, he was the defensive backs coach for the San Francisco 49ers, under two different coordinators: Jim O'Neil and Robert Saleh. In 2019, he moved back to college football as co-defensive coordinator and DBs coach for Ohio State, and then got the Boston College job in 2020.
Career as a head coach
Hafley spent four years as the Boston College head coach, with a 22-26 total record. The team achieved bowl eligibility in three of his four years at the job.
The new college football recruiting landscape, with NIL and fundraising, motivated his decision to go back to the NFL.
LaFleur tries again
Jeff Hafley is Matt LaFleur's third defensive coordinator with the Packers, the second with head coaching experience. Curiously, the first one is Mike Pettine, who was the Browns head coach when Hafley worked there in the 2010s. Hafley replaces Joe Barry, who spent three years in Green Bay.
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Green Bay hired the Boston College HC as their new DC
