Green Bay Packers: 5 Things Fans Should Know about

Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers have found a new defensive coordinator. One week after sacking Joe Barry following three disappointing years in which a defense featuring up to eight former first-round picks underperformed, Jeff Hafley, the now-former head coach at Boston College, has been appointed to manage the Packers’ defense.

Hafley’s name was unknown to Packers fans and the media who cover the team until it was disclosed that he had been hired. Instead, existing NFL defensive coaches’ identities were revealed as to who had been interviewed by the team. These names include Denver Broncos defensive backs coach Christian Parker, former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley, and Baltimore Ravens coaches Dennard Wilson and Zach Orr.

This time around, LaFleur appears to have interviewed eight candidates for the position of defensive coordinator. When Barry was hired in 2021, he conducted nine interviews. What distinguishes Hafley from his other interviewees? Perhaps we’ll figure out what it was as we go over five things Packers fans should know about their new defensive coordinator.

According to the initial article about Hafley’s employment, he and LaFleur had been long-time friends. Of course, many Packers supporters are concerned that this will be another Joe Barry-style hire with equally questionable outcomes on the field. However, some Packers insiders have rejected this claim.

As previously stated, LaFleur and Hafley have known each other for some time, but their friendship is far from close. As Tom Silverstein points out, LaFleur knows his new defensive coordinator through his brother, Mike LaFleur, New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh, and San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.

One of the most common accusations leveled at the Packers’ defense during Joe Barry’s tenure was how soft they played late in games. He rarely let his cornerbacks to play as much press man coverage as they might have liked, and he didn’t use many stunt blitzes.

That is set to change under Hafley, who played single-high safety more than any other coach in the NCAA last year. This means he prefers to stack the box and let his corners do or die in man-to-man defense. When healthy, the Packers secondary can cover the majority of NFL wide receivers.

This past season, especially, it appeared that the Packers defense was unsure of what each individual player’s role was on any given snap. In other words, the defensive strategy was overly intricate, and/or Barry lacked the capacity to adequately teach it to the club.

“He’s with his preparation, how he breaks down film, and how basic and easy he makes the game plan sound and understandable to guys. He offers a realistic picture of what you’ll see, and it all comes down to execution.”