Plenty of Packers Ties on List of Future NFL Coaches

GREEN BAY, Wis. – One of the best moves of Matt LaFleur’s seven-year tenure as Green Bay Packers head coach was hiring Jeff Hafley last year to be his defensive coordinator.

Hiring coaches can be a no-win proposition. Hire a bad one, and the entire team suffers. Hire a good one, and he’s destined for a short stay.

The latter appears true for Hafley, who is among the coaches on Conor Orr’s list of future head coaches at Sports Illustrated.

Lured from Boston College, where as head coach he led the Eagles to three winning seasons in four years, Hafley has expertly put together one of the top defenses in the NFL. Entering Sunday’s showdown at Denver, the Packers are sixth in points allowed, fifth in total defense, ninth in rushing defense and seventh in passing defense.

While it helps to be handed Micah Parsons before the start of the season, the Packers last season also were sixth in points allowed and fifth in total defense.

Last year’s success was fueled by takeaways, with Green Bay ranking fourth with 31. This year’s success has been fueled by Parsons, who has helped Hafley overcome the lack of impact personnel at defensive tackle and cornerback.

“He’s a stud. He’s a stud,” LaFleur said of Hafley last month. “I can’t say enough great things about him. We’re fortunate to have him. He’s a great mind. He’s a great person, first and foremost, which is absolutely paramount if you want to be here. But he’s super-consistent in what he does. He holds a high standard, and he’s a great football mind.”

With perhaps as many as nine potential openings this offseason, Orr said this could be the year of the “defensive genius.” Hafley is a “heavy favorite” to become the new coach of the Giants, he said.

It’s not just Hafley’s ability to coordinate a defense capable of helping his team win every week. He has shown he can be the centerpiece of a program during his four-year run at Boston College, and his command in front of the media can’t be overlooked in a role in which the head coach is expected to talk to reporters – and fans – four or five days a week. He commands a room with his ability to explain, joke and tell stories.

Last year, Hafley interviewed for the vacancy with the New York Jets, and offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich interviewed with the Chicago Bears. Stenavich could be in the mix again this offseason.

Stenavich, as Orr noted, is a “former NFL offensive lineman who drove a beer truck before breaking into the coaching ranks.” While LaFleur is the architect of the offense, Stenavich has a key role in game-planning and directing the run game.

LaFleur’s predecessor could get another opportunity, as well. In fact, according to Orr, Mike McCarthy “is viewed” as the favorite to become the new coach of the Tennessee Titans, where he’d inherit this year’s promising No. 1 overall pick, Cam Ward.

Or, maybe, he could be in play for the Giants, where he’d inherit Jaxon Dart, who he raved about last week on The Pat McAfee Show.

“I love the way he plays, because when I evaluate quarterbacks, you look at the in-the-pocket ability vs. the out-of-pocket,” he said. “What he does naturally, you can’t teach. His ability to make plays with his feet, whether it’s stepping up in the A or B gap and coming out off the movement stuff. Just the fact they run him on so many designed quarterback runs tells you what the coaching staff thinks of him.”

Also on the list of future head coaches:

Last year, Anthony Campanile was Green Bay’s linebackers coach and defensive run-game coordinator. His success in that role set him up to be defensive coordinator this season for the Jaguars. Jacksonville leads the AFC South and is on a four-game winning streak, with his defense ranking 11th in yards and points allowed.

Mike LaFleur, the brother of Packers coach Matt LaFleur, is in his second season as the Rams’ offensive coordinator. Los Angeles, which is the front-runner to earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC, is fourth in the league in scoring.

Robert Saleh, who is thriving in his second tour as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator, spent part of last season on Matt LaFleur’s coaching staff.

If Hafley were to become a head coach, there are two in-house candidates on Orr’s list of future coordinators.

One is defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington, who served as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator in 2024, and linebackers coach Sean Duggan, who was elevated into his role after Campanile became Jacksonville’s coordinator.

Jim Leonhard, the Wisconsin native, former Wisconsin star, former NFL safety and former Badgers interim head coach, is the assistant head coach and defensive passing-game coordinator for the Denver Broncos. He could get elevated if coordinator Vance Joseph gets a second crack at being a head coach.

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