Boston College Head Coach Jeff Hafley is Packers New DC

[Isherwood]

8 minutes ago, vegas492 said:

Okay, finally caught up.

Lots of pages full of optimism for a guy that wasn't even in the poll that seemed to have endless names on it.

I'm not surprised that the job went to someone that nobody knew about...so far as this job opening was concerned.

I'm both underwhelmed by the choice as well as very excited by the choice.

I like how he talks, I like his youth.  I LOVE how he talked about playing defensive backs.  It is all making sense to me.

But ultimately it is the results that will matter.

 

Yep. Leave it to the Green Bay Packers to hire someone who makes me feel surprised, but ultimately makes me feel nothing else. If they hired Staley, I could tell you I hated the idea. If they hired a Baltimore guy, I could tell you I love the pedigree.

You're right about Hafley as a podium guy. I like everything he says. Does that translate to the field? I hope so. I’ll say I will be going in optimistically. I love the idea of changing our defensive philosophy. I think our current program got incredibly stale. I’m ready to be different, for good and bad. 
 

I love this organization but it’s funny how often they make the left field choice that most never considered. They do it in the draft constantly. They do it with coaching hires. They love to bamboozle me. And they’re right more often than they’re wrong. But they’re not always right. We shall see. 

[Mazrimiv]

I have to assume Hafley received some high marks from within the Shanny/LF/Saleh coaching circle of trust.  It's the only way this hire makes any sense.

[incognito_man]

11 hours ago, {Family Ghost} said:

Maybe he chose to go there over GB. GB broke their news first, so maybe we will never know for sure?

Yeah, this got me thinking:

(1) If Hafley was FOR SURE our guy, why wait to interview Wilson?

(2) Was Hafley our guy, but still wanted to do due diligence on Wilson?

Both Wilson and Hafley have impressive NFL secondary resumes. Will be interesting for sure to compare how they each do.

[Refugee]

53 minutes ago, Mazrimiv said:

I have to assume Hafley received some high marks from within the Shanny/LF/Saleh coaching circle of trust.  It's the only way this hire makes any sense.

I think he was definitely seen as an up and coming coach in that SF locker room, Richard Sherman’s endorsement was a big one as a player to his coach. I guess the question is why he decided to go the college route. It might simply be the offer at a premier program like Ohio State gave him the best springboard  to HC position. The college game has certainly changed quickly since then so his reasoning to jump back to the pros checks out. Hopefully he really just is all about football which means he should fall in love with GB even before training camp starts. 

Edited February 1 by Refugee

[incognito_man]

10 hours ago, thrILL! said:

You don’t see Power 5 HCs leave for NFL coordinator jobs very often.  Makes this feel less of a backup plan and more like one of MLF’s top choices all along.  How often do NFL HCs even put out feelers to P5 HCs?   

this is all true. However, we also know that Hafley prefers NFL coaching (he admitted as much in his OSU interview). Plus, CFB sucks and is getting worse unless you're at one of the big time schools. It's exceedingly likely Hafley was putting feelers out there.

[incognito_man]

19 minutes ago, Mazrimiv said:

I have to assume Hafley received some high marks from within the Shanny/LF/Saleh coaching circle of trust.  It's the only way this hire makes any sense.

I think for sure he did. Plus, his resume speaks for itself.

He's coached up some terrific units in NFL and OSU

[Bcv]

27 minutes ago, incognito_man said:

Yeah, this got me thinking:

(1) If Hafley was FOR SURE our guy, why wait to interview Wilson?

(2) Was Hafley our guy, but still wanted to do due diligence on Wilson?

Both Wilson and Hafley have impressive NFL secondary resumes. Will be interesting for sure to compare how they each do.

Maybe the staff went in the interview process with an open mind and Hafley impressed during his interviews, he seems like a great interview with how he handles himself on the podium. 
 

I don’t see how he could’ve been their guy from the get go because, while he worked with people close to MLF, he never worked directly with him. 

[Rainmaker90]

Great thread. 
 

He has a diverse resume 

Statistics reflecting success

Has significant, strong endorsements

Talks the part 

 

The Joe Barry hiring/process was pretty weak. I don’t think that’s the case here . 

[NFLGURU]

Peter Bukowski

@Peter_Bukowski

"I see better than I hear. Just show me. Put it on tape" -- Jeff Hafley on pecking order of players at Ohio State.

Mentioned he's started UDFA's over 1st round picks in the NFL because they were playing better. Wants the best guys out there.

[Packerraymond]

46 minutes ago, incognito_man said:

this is all true. However, we also know that Hafley prefers NFL coaching (he admitted as much in his OSU interview). Plus, CFB sucks and is getting worse unless you're at one of the big time schools. It's exceedingly likely Hafley was putting feelers out there.

According to Thamel who broke the story, Hafley has been offered interviews the last 2 years (one for a HC position even) in the NFL. Declined them all. Must've hit a breaking point this year with the college system.

[Lodestar]

I’ve already forgotten this guy’s name like three times since we hired him

[MantyWrestler]

So, are we now going to a 4-3 with 4 down? Has anybody heard what Hafley's plan is?

[Refugee]

7 minutes ago, MantyWrestler said:

So, are we now going to a 4-3 with 4 down? Has anybody heard what Hafley's plan is?

Half and Haf.

[15412]

Hafley checks every single box.  Seems like an extremely bright guy with the background that stands out.

4-3 and 3-4 mean less than they used to, so much of defense in todays NFL is really a combined hybrid.  AT the same time we may keep an eye on in this draft for key personnel that we may presently be light on.

[incognito_man]

1 hour ago, Bcv said:

Maybe the staff went in the interview process with an open mind and Hafley impressed during his interviews, he seems like a great interview with how he handles himself on the podium. 
 

I don’t see how he could’ve been their guy from the get go because, while he worked with people close to MLF, he never worked directly with him. 

I meant 'after his interview'

that being said, I have no idea when his interview actually was, either. I was assuming it occurred before Wilson's (because there was no publicly available reason Hafley wouldn't have been able to interview last week.