New Packers’ Defensive Staff Has Common Denominator

Here’s a look at the Green Bay Packers’ defensive staff being assembled by coach Matt LaFleur and new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.

New Green Bay Packers assistant coach Bobby Babich is shown at Bills training camp last year. | Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ defensive coaching staff that coach Matt LaFleur is assembling will have no shortage of brainpower.

Here’s a closer look following the hiring of Jonathan Gannnon as defensive coordinator, Bobby Babich as defensive passing-game coordinator and Sam Siefkes as linebackers coach. All have been defensive coordinators in the NFL or a major college, as has the most important returning coach.

Defensive Coordinator: Jonathan Gannon

Jonathan Gannon has been in the NFL since 2007, when he got his first chance as defensive quality-control coach for the Falcons. Their defensive coordinator was Mike Zimmer.

After a few years in scouting, Gannon was back on the sideline as a quality-control coach for the Titans in 2012 and 2013. Zimmer became coach of the Vikings in 2014, with Gannon rejoining him for four seasons as assistant defensive backs coach.

Gannon worked as defensive backs coach for the Colts from 2018 through 2020 before making the leap to defensive coordinator of the Eagles in 2021 and 2022. After leading that defense to the Super Bowl, he spent the last three years as coach of the Cardinals before he was fired following a 4-13 season.

LaFleur went with experience in selecting Gannon, 43, rather than taking a shot on the likes of Jim Leonhard or Al Harris. During the two years as coordinator, the Eagles were 11th in points allowed, 12th in opponent passer rating, second in yards allowed per play and first in sacks.

Defensive Line Coach: DeMarcus Covington

DeMarcus Covington, who interviewed for the Cowboys’ and Jets’ defensive coordinator openings that went to Christian Parker and Brian Duker, respectively, remains with the team, though other staffs remain under construction. 

Covington, 36, has a unique background. He played receiver at Samford and got his first chance in coaching as a graduate assistant at UAB in 2012.

On defense. He wasn’t thrilled.

“When they first told me I was moving to D-line, I was pissed,” Covington said last year. “I was like, ‘How’s a guy like me going to coach D-line?’ So, what do you do as a young guy? You dive in. So, at first, you have that ‘Ugh!’ moment, but then you’ve got to do what? Turn what? Turn the page. So, you have to turn the page.

“So, what I did was turned the page and jumped right in. Didn’t stick a toe in the water; got right in. At that time, I definitely didn’t want anybody to look at me like, ‘This guy don’t know what he’s talking about,’ so I did a good job of taking great notes, putting myself in those positions doing the drills, so I can feel the techniques.”

After spending the 2016 season as co-defensive coordinator at Eastern Illinois, Bill Belichick brought Covington aboard as a defensive assistant in 2017.

He coached the Patriots’ outside linebackers in 2019 and their defensive line from 2020 through 2023. In 2024, they promoted Jerod Mayo to coach, and he promoted Covington to defensive coordinator.

It didn’t go well – he didn’t have nearly the talent that Mike Vrabel was handed in 2025 – and was swept aside after the Patriots went 4-13 with a defense that finished 22nd in yards allowed and 22nd in points allowed.

He joined the Packers as defensive line coach in 2025.

Defensive Passing-Game Coordinator: Bobby Babich

Other than the 2016 season with Florida International, Bobby Babich has been an NFL assistant since 2012. That includes the 2014 and 2015 seasons in Cleveland under former coach Mike Pettine.

In 2017, he joined the staff assembled in Buffalo under coach Sean McDermott and his defensive coordinator, Leslie Frazier. Babich was assistant defensive backs coach in 2017, safeties coach from 2018 through 2021 and linebackers coach in 2022 and 2023 before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2024 and 2025. During those two seasons, his units ranked 10th in points allowed, eighth in opponent passer rating, 15th in yards allowed per play and 19th in sacks.

The Bills fired McDermott at the end of this season and the 42-year-old Babich, who interviewed for the Green Bay coordinator opening in 2024, opted to join forces with Jonathan Gannon.

“Very detailed,” former Bills and Packers defensive back Micah Hyde said. “Very detailed each and every day. When the gameplan’s put in place, he knows the defense better than anybody in this building. Once the gameplan’s in, he’s just very detailed in giving it in his delivery. Even in practice and watching film, he’s very detail-oriented in where you should be, where your alignment is, what your assignment is, and from there you’re able to make plays.”

Linebackers Coach: Sam Siefkes

New defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon worked under esteemed former Vikings coach and defensive mastermind Mike Zimmer, and so did the new linebackers coach, 34-year-old Sam Siefkes.

A native of Oconomowoc, Wis., who played at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Siefkes talked himself into an opportunity at Wisconsin in 2015, which he parlayed into becoming defensive coordinator at UW-Platteville for the 2016 and 2017 seasons before making the jump to FCS as defensive coordinator at Wofford from 2018 through 2020.

In 2021, he joined Zimmer’s staff as a quality-control coach. After a coaching change in Minnesota, Kevin O’Connell promoted Siefkes to assistant linebackers coach in 2022 before Siefkes joined Gannon as linebackers coach of the Cardinals in 2023 and 2024. He spent last year as defensive coordinator at Virginia Tech.

“Zimmer was really influential in opening my eyes to a different world,” Siefkes said upon joining the Hokies. “Probably the best third-down guy I’ve ever been around. He taught me different ways to attack protections and offenses. That was really beneficial for my growth and getting to a spot like this.” 

What’s Next?

LaFleur and Gannon will have to add another coach to the secondary, where Ryan Downard joined Jeff Hafley in Miami and Babich replaced Derrick Ansley.

Hafley also poached defensive quality-control coach Wendel Davis – aka “Ball King.”

There could be other movement among lower-level staffers, including assistant defensive line coach Vince Oghobaase, who was with Hafley at Boston College before joining the Packers in 2024.

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