Packer Central

New Packers Linebackers Coach, Who Made Own Luck, Is Wisconsin Native

With the Green Bay Packers, Jonathan Gannon and Sam Siefkes have been reunited.
Bill Huber|
Then-Arizona Cardinals linebackers coach Sam Siefkes talks to his players during training camp in 2024.
Then-Arizona Cardinals linebackers coach Sam Siefkes talks to his players during training camp in 2024. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers with new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon are expected to hire former Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes as linebackers coach, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

Last year’s linebackers coach, Sean Duggan, followed Jeff Hafley to the Miami Dolphins.

Siefkes, 34, is a native of Oconomowoc, Wis., who played college football at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He got his start in coaching as a student assistant at La Crosse in 2012. In 2015, he was a graduate assistant under defensive coordinator Dave Aranda at Wisconsin. (More on how that happened later.) In 2016 and 2017, he was the defensive coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

After two years with the Pioneers, he was the defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at Wofford from 2018 through 2020 before joining the Minnesota Vikings as a defensive quality-control coach in 2021 under Mike Zimmer and being promoted to assistant linebackers coach in 2022 by the new coach, Kevin O'Connell.

In 2023 and 2024, he was the linebackers coach for the Arizona Cardinals, who were coached by Gannon.

“Virginia Tech and Coach Pry are getting a remarkable leader in the coaching world,” Gannon said when Siefkes took the Virginia Tech job last year. “Sam is a fantastic communicator, teacher and has unbelievable knowledge on how to stop offenses.

“He is a great coach and even better person. He will bring competitive stamina and a ton of juice to Blacksburg. Hokie Nation be ready to see an aggressive, smart, tough unit that will dominate games.”

Siefkes not only worked under Gannon but Zimmer.

“Sam Siefkes is a terrific coach,” Zimmer said. “I relied on him a ton when I was the head coach in Minnesota. He’s a great person with a great family, extremely knowledgeable in all aspects of football. Sam is an incredible teacher who gets the best out of his players. Virginia Tech should be ecstatic to have him as a part of their program!”

Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson wished Siefkes well when Siefkes took the Tech job.

With Minnesota, he helped coach Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks while learning from one of the best minds in the business.

“Zimmer was really influential in opening my eyes to a different world,” Siefkes told Hokies Sports. “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.” 

Siefkes will be Edgerrin Cooper’s third position coach in three seasons in the NFL. The team’s standout was coached by Anthony Campanile as a rookie in 2024 and Duggan in 2025. Campanile is the defensive coordinator for the Jaguars and Duggan is expected to be Hafley’s defensive coordinator.

“As a coach, I’ve always [had a] teacher-first mentality in terms of the philosophy of the defense,” Siefkes said upon landing at Virginia Tech. “How we execute on the field and [doing] the right things are the two things I grade the most.”

Siefkes said he looks for linebackers who can “run and hit.” He’ll have that with Cooper. Veteran starter Quay Walker can run and hit, too, but he’ll be a free agent. Veteran Isaiah McDuffie and 2024 third-round pick Ty’Ron Hopper round out the top of the depth chart.

“I’ve coached every position on defense,” Siefkes said. “That flexibility helps when running a system where players need to take on multiple roles. It allows me to adjust and maximize their potential.” 

Siefkes was out when coach Brent Pry was fired at the end of the season and replaced by James Franklin.

“People across the country couldn't stop praising Sam's knowledge of the game and his abilities as a coach,” Pry said. “As I got to know him, I couldn't agree more. I am thrilled to have Sam join our program. He's worked under some of the best minds in the game.”

Sometimes in coaching, you have to be lucky. Other times, you have to make your own luck. That is how he got his foot in the door at Wisconsin in 2015.

“The only reason I got that job,” Siefkes told GoUpState, “was because I sent handwritten letter after handwritten letter and knocked on as many doors as humanly possible. One day I just showed up and at the door and said I had a meeting.”

He did not have a meeting.

“I think football is football,” Siefkes said of going from Platteville to Wofford. “At the end of the day, it’s not really any different here than it was at Platteville. There are just different pieces, better pieces, and more of them to use. I don’t care if you’re in middle school, high school or professional, it’s still the same game.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.