Packers’ New Defensive Passing-Game Coordinator Will ‘Bring the Juice’

New Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon made a big addition to his first Green Bay coaching staff.

New Green Bay Packers assistant coach Bobby Babich is shown at training camp last year with the Bills. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are hiring former Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich to be their defensive passing-game coordinator and secondary coach.

The Packers are hiring Bobby Babich as their defensive pass game coordinator/secondary, per source.

Babich had been with the Bills since 2017, serving as defensive coordinator the past two seasons. A key hire to new DC Jonathan Gannon’s staff. pic.twitter.com/S6zSuf3KAY

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 28, 2026

Coach Matt LaFleur interviewed Babich to be his defensive coordinator in 2024 before picking Jeff Hafley. Babich, meanwhile, was promoted to Buffalo’s defensive coordinator, where he led units that finished seventh in total defense and 12th in points in 2025 and 17th in total defense and 11th in points in 2024.

Now, Babich will coach under the Packers’ new coordinator, former Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon. As the new coach of the Miami Dolphins, Hafley brought with him Ryan Downard, who joined the Packers in 2018 and had been defensive backs coach the last three seasons.

Derrick Ansley was the Packers’ defensive passing-game coordinator under Hafley the past two seasons. It’s not immediately clear what the addition of Babich means for his future.

Babich’s father, Bob, was the head coach at North Dakota State from 1997 through 2022 before working as an NFL assistant from 2003 through 2021. From 2017 through 2021, they worked together in Buffalo.

“It cemented what I wanted to do,” Bobby Babich told The Athletic. “I was around it and I loved it. I was never pushed to love it. I just kind of fell in love with the game. I knew I wanted to be involved in football at a very young age. I knew I wanted to be involved in this sport in some way.”

Praise From Former Packers

Bobby Babich joined the Bills in 2017 as assistant defensive backs coach. He coached the Bills’ safeties from 2018 through 2021, with the 2021 defense ranking first in the NFL in total defense as safeties Jordan Poyer (first team) and Micah Hyde (second team) earned All-Pro honors. In 2022, he replaced his father as linebackers coach, a role he held for two years before being promoted to coordinator.

“Bobby’s a go-getter,” Hyde, who was drafted by the Packers, said after the 2023 season via Spectrum News. “He’s always yelling. High-energy guy and I think people love that. People love that he’s like that and he’s always going to bring the juice. A lot of people joke around and be like that’s fake juice. No, literally, Bobby wakes up every single day and he’s ready to go, and I think he delivers that to his players and his players play that same way.”

It’s not just the energy.

“Very detailed,” 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.”

With Buffalo, Babich wore a hat that read in big letters “S.F.P.”

Simple, fast and physical.

“We don't really want to think, for real,” another former Packers defensive back, Rasul Douglas, said. “We just want to hit everything moving. So, when you put it simple, we all can play faster because we ain't got to think so much.”

Coaching Philosophy

Babich’s coaching philosophy is a bit Lombardi-esque.

“Until we’re perfect, we’ll never be where we [want to be] at. That’s the way we view it,” he said during training camp in 2024. “Until we’re absolutely perfect on every rep, which will never happen, we’ll never be where we need to be. So, we’re going to constantly try to grow.”

The Bills finished 18th in opponent passer rating in 2024 and soared to seventh in 2025, when they ranked fourth in opponent completion percentage, first in passing yards allowed and sixth in passing touchdowns allowed while being only 20th in sacks.

Under Babich’s tutelage, cornerback Christian Benford, a former sixth-round pick from Villanova, has become one of NFL’s better players at the position.

Babich called the plays at times and shared those responsibilities with then-coach Sean McDermott at other times.

“Bobby’s young in this position,” McDermott said this season. “He works extremely hard, he’s gifted and play calling is one of the harder things to do in this business.”

The Bills beat the Jaguars in the wild-card round before losing 33-30 in overtime at Denver. Bo Nix was only 26-of-46 passing but threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.

Babich was a cornerback at North Dakota State, where he led the team in interceptions as a senior. He followed his father into coaching, and got his start in the NFL as administrative assistant to the Panthers’ coaching staff in 2011.

“The first time I experienced him being around me was when I was the head coach at North Dakota State and he would hold my cord during games,” the elder Babich said in 2018, their second year together in Buffalo. 

“I called an offensive play one time and he looked at me, he was in like seventh or eighth grade, and he looked at me and said, 'Really? You called that play?' So, that's the type of relationship we had. It's the same way it is right now.”

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