Packers Hire Ex-Cardinals Coach Jonathan Gannon as Defensive Coordinator

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have found their replacement for Jeff Hafley. On Sunday, coach Matt LaFleur hired former Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon.

Packers are hiring former Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon as their defensive coordinator, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 25, 2026

Gannon spent the past three seasons as coach of the Arizona Cardinals. They went 3-14 in 2025 and ranked 29th in the NFL with 29.7 points allowed per game.

Giving up points was a commonality in Arizona the last three years with Gannon at the helm, as only two teams in the league gave up more points than his Cardinals.

Of course, personnel is part of the conversation, as well. Arizona’s defense had one Pro Bowler in three seasons, and it was safety Budda Baker. Defensive end Josh Sweat, who followed Gannon from Philadelphia, was an alternate this season.

Philadelphia is where Gannon made his mark in his move to be a head coach in the NFL. Gannon was Nick Sirianni’s defensive coordinator for his first two seasons as coach.

The first season was rocky for both the Eagles and Gannon, as his defense finished 18th in points allowed and 10th in total defense. Those Eagles would lose in the wild-card round to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Everything clicked the following season. Gannon’s defense rose to one of the best in the NFL, It was eighth in points, second in total defense and sacked opposing quarterbacks a whopping 70 times. That was a franchise record, and that defense came in waves.

Haason Reddick, Javon Hargrave, Sweat,and Fletcher Cox all had double-digit sack seasons that year, and Reddick finished second in the league with 16.

The Eagles went to the Super Bowl that season and fell just short against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Prior to his time in Philadelphia, Gannon was a defensive backs coach for Matt Eberflus in Indianapolis, and former Packers nemesis Mike Zimmer in Minnesota.

LaFleur made the move on Sunday, the day of the conference championship games.

One presumptive candidate was former Wisconsin Badgers defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, who is the defensive passing-game coordinator of the Denver Broncos who was up for the job in 2021 and could have been interviewed as early as Monday.

In Arizona, Gannon and the Packers have recent history, with Green Bay’s offense struggling before a big fourth quarter rally got them by Arizona with a 27-23 victory.

On that day, in particular, perhaps Gannon began the process of acing his next job’s interview.

“From an offensive standpoint, it was a very frustrating day overall in regards to they did a hell of a job of keeping an umbrella on the defense,” LaFleur said after Green Bay’s 27-23 win in Arizona.

“It was one of those dink-and-duck-type games. Not that we didn’t get a couple shots downfield, but they were playing pretty soft, and took a lot of things that we wanted to do or that we saw on tape away and just try to make us play perfect, which we were far from perfect. So, give credit to them. I got a lot of respect for those guys.”

Gannon’s work in all of his stops has earned praise of the men in charge of him.

“He’s going to be a head football coach in the National Football League because of what he does. This guy is a stud. He’s a stud,” Sirianni said.

The next question after the hiring of Gannon is what style of defense he’s going to bring to Green Bay.

Since the Packers hired Joe Barry following the 2020 season and Hafley after the 2023 season, the Packers have emphasized limiting explosive plays.

According to PFF’s Daire Carragher, Gannon, who did not call plays in Arizona, ran quarters coverage on 23 percent of snaps, which was the highest total in the NFL. For comparison’s sake, Hafley and the Packers were 20th in 2025.

Gannon’s diverse background with Zimmer, notably aggressive, and Eberflus, more conservative, lends a sense of mystery as to what style of defense he’ll want to call as he builds his defense around Green Bay’s personnel.

Of course, one big point in Gannon’s favor in this stint as a defensive coordinator is that he has one of the best players in football on his side in defensive end Micah Parsons.

When Green Bay’s season ended, Parsons called for accountability for not only himself, but the players, as well.

“Be ready to do more than your job requires,” Parsons said. “If you’re in shape, run more. If we got to play 80 snaps, play 80 f***ing snaps. I dare people to beat me to the ball.”

When Gannon was hired by the Cardinals, it was almost as if he was speaking to Parsons directly in the present.

“Player accountability is simply this: You have to define what winning behavior is and hold people to that standard,” Gannon said after he was hired.

“Accountability is not just a negative. It’s a positive, too. When people do the right thing, that is winning behavior … as hard as we are going to be on our guys, we’re going to love them up even more. That’s how you win games."

Accountability was a buzz word in the locker room after Green Bay’s season-ending defeat in Chicago.

While Gannon’s defenses failed, he’ll inherit a more talented group.

Talking about Green Bay’s defense before their midseason matchup, Gannon said:

“Well, (first) I think who are their premier players, and they've got a lot of them, then schematically what you need to try to attack. They do a good job of negating how you want to attack them. I think they do a really good job, the coaching staff with the players that they have, is to marry the front to the back because they've got multiple rushers that can win.

“Then in the back end, they do a good job of making it hard on you, and making you try to hold the ball and it's a tough way to go. They're playing well right now.”

Gannon also will inherit a game-wrecking talent in Parsons.

“You better have a plan for 1,” Gannon said.

Interestingly, Gannon’s offensive coordinator in Arizona, Drew Petzing, is the new offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions.

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