For the firs time in history, a Packers Defensive Coordinator is taking a head coaching job. Just two years after leaving Boston College, Jeff Hafley will be the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and Green Bay will be looking for its fourth defensive coordinator under Matt LaFleur.
Given the step that Jordan Love took this past season, getting this hire right is maybe the most important step the Packers can take for next season. You have the guy at QB, and with a little better health luck the offense should be a top five unit. The defense has to be able to to keep up for this team to win a Super Bowl.
So who gives them the best chance to do that? Plenty of others will and have covered the schematic fits and histories that these candidates have, so instead lets just look at some of the more intangible pros and cons each have. Then we’ll assign a rating on how good of a hire they would be based off this very logical approach.
Brian Flores, Vikings DC
Flores is an appealing option if you’ve watched what he’s done in Minnesota over the past few seasons. Its hard not to be excited thinking about what he could do with Micah Parsons when he returns from injury. He has a lot of experience as a coordinator and as a head coach, and that kind of veteran leadership would be great for a team that remains the youngest both from a player perspective but also a coaching experience perspective as well.
So he has experience, has led good defenses, and coached at multiple levels. Is there even a downside? For starters, he’s spent the last several years as a Minnesota Viking, I don’t know if you are new here, but the Packers don’t take the Vikings leftovers, they take the Packers. Flipping that just seems like a bad omen. On top of that, Flores was evidently one of the candidates for the HC position before Matt LaFleur was hired. Bring him in and you have a potential power struggle as angry fans online named RodgersizGod69 demand LaFleur be fired for Flores.
Rating: 5/5 Lombardis. This would be a home run hire despite the bad karma of his previous employer.
Jonathan Gannon, Cardinals Ex HC
Like Flores, Gannon is a candidate with a lot of experience. His most recent stint as a defensive coordinator ended with a Super Bowl appearance with the Eagles. Following that he was named head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. While that did not end well, you could point to the quality of Arizona’s roster as big part of why. In his second season with the Eagles they had a top ten scoring defense. Much like Jeff Hafley, and other candidates the Packers are looking at, he has a background working with defensive backs which could prove useful given the Packers roster.
So what’s the downside?
It’s also worth noting that Gannon interviewed for the Cards job while still coaching for the Eagles in the playoffs. The Cardinals were penalized a draft pick for impermissible contact. Hiring this guy means you have to constantly be worried he already has one foot out the door.
Rating: 2/5 Lombardis. While I can certainly see a world where this would work out, it’s hard to have faith in a guy that hasn’t had much success in the last few years.
Jim Leonhard, Broncos Assistant HC/Defensive Passing Game Coordinator
Unlike the previous two options, Leonhard doesn’t have the kind of experience that the previous two candidates do, which can be both a good thing and bad. Leonhard does have experience as a DC at the college level however, and his Badgers defenses were some of the best in college football. The Packers also wanted him before, trying to hire him in 2021. Leonhard turned them down then, likely thinking he had the inside track to be Wisconsin’s head coach.
Not only was Leonhard an excellent DC in college, and been involved in some very good defenses in Denver, he was also an excellent player in the league as a safety, experience that could help in developing a thin secondary in Green Bay.
The downsides? Leonhard has no experience coordinating a defense in the NFL. But more importantly he already turned the team down once. Can you really trust a guy that didn’t want to step up the first time you asked? Yeah, probably, but I really wanted him in 2021 and there’s no time limit on grudges.
Rating: 4/5 Lombardis. The lack of coordinating experience at the pro level is a bit of a concern, but his work in college and the defenses he’s been a part of give me faith he could be a strong candidate.
Other Packers Candidates:
Christain Parker: Former Packers coach from ’19-21, also spent time with Denver and is currently in Philadelphia. Interviewed for the position before Hafley was hired. Experience with defensive backs and involved in a number of good defensive units.
Has no experience coordinating at the college or pro levels. Has not stayed with a program for more than 2 years
Raheem Morris: Former HC of Atlanta, has been a defensive coordinator for multiple franchises. Most recently with the Rams when they won the Super Bowl. Unlikely to get a third shot as a HC, so if he works could be a longer term solution.
Has never had a top 15 defense by certain metrics, and has been underwhelming a HC with multiple opportunities.
Random Guy Not Mentioned Once Prior to Being Hired: Jeff Hafley’s name wasn’t mentioned once before it was announced he would be the Packers new DC. It’s very possible that Green Bay, knowing that losing Hafley was a likelihood, has already done their homework on a candidate nobody is thinking of. It worked out pretty well for the two years Hafley was here relatively speaking
Not being a name mentioned previously, you get a certain portion of the fanbase mad because the team didn’t hire the right “name”. So you get weeks of terrible discourse from people that have no idea what they are talking about.
