Of course, there are many factors that ultimately led to Matt LaFleur choosing Jeff Hafley to be the Green Bay Packers next defensive coordinator, but a big one was his previous experience working with defensive backs.
“I would say definitely,” said LaFleur when asked about Hafley’s defensive back background being a key factor. “Especially in this league, it’s such a pass dominant league. That was definitely one of the most appealing things to me was his ability to lead from the back end. But I think he’s got a great knowledge base on all three levels.”
Hafley has been the Boston College head coach since 2020 and was the Ohio State co-defensive coordinator in 2019, but before that, he cut his teeth in the NFL working with defensive backs.
Hafley got his start in the NFL as the Tampa Bay assistant defensive backs coach in 2012 before being promoted to defensive backs coach in 2013. He then held that same title with Cleveland from 2014 to 2015 and San Francisco from 2016 to 2018.
At both the cornerback and safety positions in 2023, the Packers simply didn’t have enough impact plays being made. No player at ranked in the top half of the NFL in forced incompletions at either of their respective position groups, while the seven interceptions that the Packers defense as a group generated were they second-fewest in football.
In part, these Packers’ defenders weren’t always in the best positions to make plays on the ball, given the passive defensive approach Joe Barry utilized.
However, if Hafley’s previous defenses provide us with some insights into what we can expect in Green Bay, that could mean more Cover-1 looks, which for the cornerbacks means more man coverage, as well as more press coverage.
Both LaFleur and Hafley also discussed a switch to a more vision-based approach on the defensive back-end. All of which should help create more opportunities for the members of the secondary to make plays on the ball.
“Our zone coverages are built off vision and break that allows our guys to play fast,” said Hafley, “so they’re not looking at people and looking around for people. The essence of playing vision-and-break coverage is when the ball’s thrown, you have two or three guys going 100 miles an hour to the ball carrier.
“And I think that’s what the biggest difference is. And you have to have complements to that, because a lot of times when you want to pressure, you can’t play that style of defense. You have to be aggressive and get your hands on people. So I think there’s a place for both. I’m big on vision and break because I want to see as many people get to the ball carrier and as fast as we can over and over again.”
Along with the scheme, energy and developing relationships with the players through open communication will be hallmarks of his defensive approach.
And whether it be by LaFleur or former players of Hafley’s like Tashaun Gipson, Richard Sherman, or Jordan Fuller, Hafley has been routinely complimented on his ability to keep the gameplan digestible for players. This prevents overthinking and allows the defenders to just play fast.
“His preparation is some of the best I’ve seen,” said cornerback Richard Sherman who was coached by Hafley in San Francisco. “I’ve had some great defensive back coaches, some great defensive coaches, great defensive minds, and he’s right up there with his preparation and how he breaks down film and how easy and simple he makes the gameplan sound. How easy he makes it for guys to understand. He paints a very vivid picture of what you’re going to see, and it’s all about executing on it.”
With Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, and Carrington Valentine, the Packers have a very solid foundation at the cornerback position—although depth will be needed, along with finding someone to fill that nickel cornerback role.
Safety is a much bigger need, however. This is a very much a position that the Packers will end up addressing both through free agency and the draft. Given the importance of the safety position in Hafley’s defense, which he discusses here, in addition to this being a so-so draft class but a good free agent one, if feels like the Packers could tackle this need by spending some free agent dollars.
Rather than saying this is the scheme and the defenders have to play within it, Hafley is going to identify what skillsets his defenders have and mold the scheme to them. This is just another example of how this hire could help unlock the back-end of the Packers’ defense.
“Our job is to put the players in the best position to succeed and make plays,” said Hafley, “and that’s through scheme, right? People can say a lot of the scheme is simpler, but it’s very detailed. We try and make it simple for the players so they can play fast, so they don’t have to think, so they can be confident and not be afraid to make mistakes, so I can get them the information – we can get them the information – that they need, so they can go out there and be fearless and play with their hair on fire and run and hit and cover and get off blocks and tackle.
“That’s the beauty of the scheme. We got guys that can press, let’s line up and get our hands on people. I think that’s really important. You get a guy that can play a zone third, that can read two to one, let’s do it and go get the ball.”
