Jeff Hafley explains leaving Boston College for Packers DC job

Jeff Hafley surprised many when he left the head coach position Boston College to become the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator. A longtime NFL assistant, it was an interesting decision to leave a Power Conference head coaching job for a coordinator position.

Ultimately, he said, it came down to the type of people he’d be working with in Green Bay.

Hafley met with reporters Thursday in Green Bay and broke down his decision to join the Packers as Matt LaFleur’s defensive coordinator. He noted his relationship with LaFleur, and the idea of working with him was a big selling point.

“A lot of reporters have tried to hit me up and ask about, ‘Why’d you leave? Why’d you leave a head job?’ It really has more to do with this place than anything else, and one was Matt,” Hafley said. “I’ve known Matt for a while. I worked with his brother – worked with Kyle, worked with Robert, worked with guys that he’s known. So I’ve known of Matt, I’ve respected what he’s done. I’ve watched what he’s done here. I think he’s like 56-27. Great coach, great leader, great person, great family man.

“Those are all really important things for me coming to work for another head coach, leaving a head coaching job. Matt was a big reason.”

Hafley spent four years at Boston College and had a 22-26 record during that time. Before that, he spent even seasons in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers as a defensive backs coach from 2012-18. He then returned to the college ranks at Ohio State as defensive coordinator and DBs coach in 2019 before taking over at Boston College in 2020.

After news broke of his decision, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported the reason for Hafley’s move stemmed from the changing landscape in college football, and the need to focus on other areas such as NIL and roster retention.

On Thursday, Jeff Hafley said the opportunity to not only return to the NFL, but do it with a historic franchise was a big selling point and added to his decision.

“As a guy that grew up loving football, it’s the Green Bay Packers,” Hafley said. “I mean, this is like the mecca of a football world to me and probably to most people who grew up loving football. Just being here driving into Lambeau every day, it still feels surreal. The community, maybe the best fans in all the world, as well. That made a really, really hard decision for me – leaving Boston College, players that I love, staff that I loved, the leadership at the school – it made a really hard decision a lot easier. And ultimately, that’s why I decided to come.

“Now that my head’s finally cleared up a little bit and I see things a heck of a lot more clearly than when I was making that decision, there’s no doubt about it that I made a great one. And I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to be around all you guys, I’m excited to be a part of the staff, some of the new guys that we brought in and I really can’t wait to get going.”