Report: Green Bay Packers to hire Boston College's Jeff Hafley as defensive coordinator

The Green Bay Packers are set to hire Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley as defensive coordinator to replace Joe Barry, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported. He spent the last four years with the Eagles after coming up the ranks as a defensive backs coach at the collegiate level.

Hafley spent seven 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.

Hafley amassed a 22-26 record with the Eagles, but is now preparing to return to the NFL. Thamel reported the reason for his decision stemmed from the changing landscape in college football, and the need to focus on other areas such as NIL and roster retention.

“He wants to go coach football again in a league that is all about football,” a source told Thamel. “College coaching has become fundraising, NIL and recruiting your own team and transfers. There’s no time to coach football anymore.”

What the Packers are getting in Jeff Hafley

In Hafley’s lone season at Ohio State in 2019, the Buckeyes had the best defense in the Big Ten, holding teams to 259.7 yards and 13.7 points per game en route to a 13-1 record and a national championship appearance.

After taking over at Boston College, Hafley took the Eagles to three bowl games in four years – although they withdrew from their bowl appearance due to COVID-19 concerns in 2020 and the 2021 Military Bowl was canceled due to COVID issues within the program.

In Hafley’s first season at the helm in 2020, Boston College allowed 416.8 yards per game, and that number improved to 385.1 yards on average in 2023. The defense’s best year came in 2021 when the Eagles ranked fourth in the ACC with 343.8 yards allowed on average and third in the league with 22.2 points allowed per game.

Green Bay made it to the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs this year, where they fell to the San Francisco 49ers after defeating the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round. The Packers went 9-8 during the regular season, but had the 17th-ranked total defense in the NFL. Their struggles came particularly in the running game, where Green Bay ranked 28th with 128.3 rushing yards allowed on average.