After Excellent Two-Year Run, Packers Must Replace Jeff Hafley

Jeff Hafley is the new coach of the Miami Dolphins after two seasons as the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator. His departure was expected but creates a big hole for Matt LaFleur to fill.

Former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is shown before their preseason game against there Seattle Seahawks. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur is back with a contract extension. One of his first orders of business will be hiring a defensive coordinator.

On Monday, the Miami Dolphins hired Jeff Hafley to be their new coach. He received a five-year contract, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter.

Term update: Dolphins are signing former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to a five-year contract to become their new head coach. https://t.co/H3fGP6GnM7

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 19, 2026

Hired after going 22-26 in four years as Boston College’s head coach, Hafley produced two excellent seasons as LaFleur’s defensive coordinator. Green Bay was eighth in points allowed and ninth in total defense during his tenure.

Hafley was up for six openings this coaching cycle. That he got one wasn’t a surprise.

Especially to LaFleur.

“I think Hafley’s going to do a great job on the interview and I fully anticipate him getting one of these,” LaFleur said, “and I would be so happy for him because he deserves it and he’s a great friend, he’s a great man, he’s a great coach.”

Two Years of Excellence for Jeff Hafley

The Packers finished sixth in points allowed and fifth in total defense in 2024, when Micah Parsons was wrecking games for the Cowboys, and 11th in points allowed and 12th in total defense in 2025, results that took a steep downturn after Parsons suffered a torn ACL during Week 15 at Denver.

“I would say his ability just to say ‘F it. Let’s go fight. Let’s keep it simple. This is who we are, this is what we do and let’s make them beat us,” Parsons said of Hafley at the end of the season. “And his creativity. Him wanting to meet more and him challenging me as a player, giving me … the green light to be as good a player as I want to be.

“I think he challenges each group differently. I know he challenges X (Xavier McKinney) to command the back end, get us in the back situation where they can play good ball. He challenges Quay (Walker) differently. I think he challenges everyone differently, has his own mindset and goals for each player, which is good because all players aren’t the same.”

One way to look at Hafley’s results is to add the points and yards rankings and compare them to other two-year stretches. In points allowed, if you take the six from the ranking in 2024 and the 11 from the ranking in 2025, you get 17. For yards, you also get 17. That’s the lowest mark since Dom Capers’ defenses finished second in points and fifth in yards in 2010 and seventh in points and second in yards in 2009, for a total of nine in points and seven in yards.

Otherwise, the previous bests were 22 for points in 2019 (ninth) and 2020 (13th) and 18 for yards (ninth in 2020 and 2021).

“I love this group,” Hafley said before the playoff game against Chicago. “I love being part of the Green Bay Packers, and I never take that for granted every day when I drive in and I get to see Lambeau Field.

“Honestly. I’m a guy who started coaching Division III football and worked my way up to be a college head coach, and now I’m part of the greatest NFL organization that there is, getting to call the plays. So, that is so humbling to me. I love the defensive players that we coach. I love these guys and I love the staff and I love working for Matt, and I never take that for granted – not one second – which is why, when I answer that question, I don’t think it’d be fair to anybody a part of this not to give everything I have for this game.”

Who Will Replace Jeff Hafley?

The question is what’s next for LaFleur.

Offensively, LaFleur promoted from within when he appointed offensive line coach Adam Stenavich as his offensive coordinator in 2022. Defensively, LaFleur retained Mike Pettine in 2019, hired Joe Barry away from the Rams in 2021 and Hafley out of the college ranks in 2024.

One candidate quickly emerged.

Christian Parker, who interviewed to be the Packers' defensive cooridnator in 2024, will interview for the job again, according to @Schultz_Report. Here's our story from a couple years ago. ⬇️https://t.co/P5MeyjLOmO

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) January 20, 2026

On the staff, defensive line coach Demarcus Covington was New England’s defensive coordinator last season. That defense was bad, finishing 22nd in yards allowed and points allowed, but that unit doesn’t have near the talent that Terrell Williams was handed under first-year coach Mike Vrabel this year.

Defensive passing-game coordinator Derrick Ansley was the Chargers defensive coordinator in 2023 under defense-focused coach Brandon Staley. That defense finished 28th in yards and 24th in points.

If LaFleur looks to the outside, Raheem Morris could be an option. He was fired after back-to-back 8-9 seasons as coach of the Falcons. Before that, he was the Rams’ defensive coordinator for three seasons. In nine seasons as a coordinator or head coach, he’s had one top-10 finish in points allowed and never been in the top half of the league in total defense.

Former University of Wisconsin defensive coordinator and interim head coach Jim Leonhard, who was up for the job that went to Hafley, could be an option, too. The native of Tony, Wis., who started 73 games at safety during a 10-year NFL career, is in his second season as the Broncos’ defensive passing-game coordinator and assistant head coach.

“I think that he’s extremely bright,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “He was as a player. He solved all the problems as a player. He was in Buffalo, the Jets, Baltimore, Denver. He played 10 years and I think he’s got one of these high ceilings that we see with some young coaches.

“I think a lot of him.”

Whoever LaFleur hires, he’ll have big shoes to fill. While the defense crumbled in the fourth quarter of both losses at Chicago, it also gave up only three points in the first three quarters in Week 16 and six points in the first three quarters in the wild-card game.

After Parsons’ injury, Hafley made lemonade out of lemons with a defense that had personnel issues at defensive tackle, which impacted the run defense, defensive end, which impacted the pass rush, and cornerback, which impacted the coverage.

“Yeah, that sh** would suck, I ain’t gonna lie. Ain’t gonna lie,” defensive back Javon Bullard said of potentially losing Hafley. “But, you know, that’s the beauty of this profession. That’s the sad part about this profession but it’s also a beautiful thing, too. You want everybody to succeed and level up, because that’s the same thing with somebody here going to get a new contract somewhere else. We wouldn’t want him to be sad for us, you know what I mean?

“So, to see him get an opportunity, and to hear those talks, yeah, it sucks, because he’s such a good defensive coordinator. But you want him to succeed, you want him to be able to keep stacking his bread, keep taking care of his family, keep leveling up in his career. It would be huge for him, and we excited for him, we proud of him, but we hope he come back.”

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