Once the Green Bay Packers fired defensive coordinator Joe Barry following the 2023 season, a lot of big names were bandied about to replace him at that all-important position.
We saw the likes of two former head coaches in that of Brandon Staley and Ron Rivera linked to this position under Matt LaFleur.
In what has to be considered shocking news, the Packers have reportedly gone in a completely different direction.
According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley has accepted the position in Green Bay. The reasoning is even more stunning.
“College coaching has become fundraising, NIL and recruiting your own team and transfers. There’s no time to coach football anymore,” a source told Thamel as it relates to Hafley’s thinking.
This seems to be more of a case of Hafley reaching out to Green Bay as a way to see how interested the NFL team might be in his services. It comes out of nowhere with no previous reported interest from the Packers.
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Jeff Hafley as the new Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator
Hafley, 44, has been Boston College’s head coach since the 2020 season. He’s psoted a 22-26 record with three bowl appearances during that span.
The long-time defensive mind does have experience at the NFL level. Most recently, he served as the San Francisco 49ers defensive backs coach from 2016-18. He was also a defensive backs coach with the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier in his career.
There is a major question to be asked here. Why did Green Bay go in this direction with more qualified pro-level coaches available? Is the team trying to hit a home run with Hafley at the cost of a sure-fire hire?
Time will tell on that front. But this is shocking news.
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