The Packers Surprisingly Tapped Boston College Head Coach Jeff Hafley To Be Their New Defensive Coordinator And By All Accounts He Seems To Be a Home Run Hire

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Yesterday the Packers found their new defensive coordinator when they hired Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley. It was a move seemingly out of left field as he wasn't even known by the public to have interviewed for the gig. Nevertheless, he's the new leader of the defense, so he has my blind trust. 

Now I didn't have many requirements for what it would take to please me with the new DC, but I did have three asks. 

1) Don't be named Joe Barry. I don't want to talk about that person anymore. That's the bad man. 

2) Don't be named Brandon Staley. Sure he's a better defensive coordinator than a head coach (can't be worse tbh) but his best years with the Rams came with an all-planet Aaron Donald and shutdown corner Jalen Ramsey. Everything else after that was a disaster. No thanks, especially with the stink still on him from the Chargers. 

3) Pick a younger fella who isn't so stubborn and hellbent on a system. Preferably even someone who likes press coverage and/or knows that that is! 

From my understand the Packers nailed it when it came to abiding by that wishlist. Smashed it out of the park. 

Now in reality none of us really know what to expect here. The hope is he taps into this talented defense and allows them to flourish, but what do we know? Let's see what the smart people out there have to say. 

The number one thing I read about Hafley is press coverage and that makes me rock hard. 

Gone are the days of sitting back in a shell and just letting receivers catch the ball with room to run. I can't do it anymore. That final Niners drive to take the lead and win the game was all done under a 2 man shell. ENOUGH!!! The amount of 3rd and longs the Packers gave up in 2023 by just sitting back and trying to rally to the football was insane. Play man coverage and stop letting receivers get off so easy from the LOS. It ends now with Jeff. 

Hafley also loves to teach tackling, another thing Joe Barry ignored. Everything about this quote below is football porn. 

While you may look at his days as the Boston College head coach as a disappointment, I personally am viewing that as an un-winnable situation considering the talent pool they're picking from. .500 or better record in 3 of 4 years, capped off with a bowl win in Fenway? Sure looks like he got the most out out of them. In 2021 everything seemed to click defensively. 

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When he initially jumped to college, the reviews from Richard Sherman were glowing. 

The preparation part to me is so key. The amount of times I'd watch a game this past year and see multiple Packers players having no clue what to do was astonishing. Pro football players, clueless was to what their assignment was. Can't happen. 

What he did at Ohio State though, is where things really clicked. Of course the talent to work with there was exceptional, but a guy like Jeff Okudah played the best ball of his career in 2019. He parlayed that into becoming a top 5 pick in the draft and credits a lot of it to Hafley's work.  

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Ohio State had the number one defensive unit that year. Their pass defense was lockdown. Bring all of that with you Jeff. 

For a guy I knew nothing about yesterday, I'm kinda all-in here. Is that the blind, dumb sports fan in me? Absolutely, but there's a lot to like here. He's got an NFL background having worked with the Niners, Browns, and Bucs. He loves press coverage, and he's got a body of work in college that translated to instant results, more specifically at OSU. 

Let's do it. I'm personally down for a season where the Packers don't give up career days to the likes of Tommy Devito and Bryce Young. Here's to new beginnings. 

P.S. Hearing Rap talk about how the new world that college football has entered into is impacting coaches like Hafley is interesting. Teams that aren't in the SEC or Big Ten are going to have a lot of trouble hanging onto guys moving forward. Some guys just hate what the NIL system has turned into and would rather the pro game if they can get there. 

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P.P.S. This guy knows ball. What are the next lottery numbers?