Jeff Hafley coaching career: Exploring Packers DC's journey in Pro Football

The Green Bay Packers have hired Jeff Hafley as their new defensive coordinator for the 2024-25 NFL season. Jeff Hafley will join the Packers straight from Boston College, where he has coached since Dec. 13, 2019.

The Packers will employ a young yet experienced coaching mind in hiring Hafley. In this article, we examine Hafley's coaching history and path to the NFL. So, without further ado, let's get to it.

---

Jeff Hafley's college football coaching career

Jeff Hafley played college football for the Siena Saints before graduating with a Bachelor's degree in history.

Following his graduation, Hafley became a college football coach. The former pass catcher's first coaching role was at Worcester Polytechnic in 2001. Hafley remained in that role for one year before taking his talents to Albany.

He spent three seasons there, soaking up the knowledge and adding to his coaching experience. Hafley left Albany to take up a similar role at Pittsburgh, where he stayed for four seasons before moving to Rutgers.

As part of the Rutgers coaching staff, Hafley helped the team become the ninth-ranked passing defense in the country.

---

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired Jeff Hafley

After his success at the collegiate level as a defensive expert, Jeff Hafley was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an assistant defensive backs coach in 2012.

Hafley also worked extensively with the secondary and safeties. The highlight of Hafley's tenure in Tampa Bay was overseeing a defensive unit that ended the 2013 season tied for third in the NFL with 21 interceptions.

The rest of the league was watching, and Hafley was lured out of Tampa Bay by the Cleveland Browns in January 2014. The Browns employed Hafley to coach the secondary. He stayed in the role for two seasons before losing his job due to a massive overhaul of the coaching staff following the 2015 season.

Hayley's subsequent role in the NFL was with the San Francisco 49ers when Chip Kelly brought him on board to coach the defensive backs in 2016.

---

Return to college football

Jeff Hafley coached in San Francisco for three years before accepting the co-defensive coordinator role at Ohio State. At Ohio State University, Hafley became one of the best recruiters in the nation.

Boston College liked what they saw and hired Hafley in Dec. 2019 after firing Steve Addazio. Hafley had one losing record in four years, leading Boston College to bowl eligibility in three of the four years when he was their head coach.

The Green Bay Packers appointed their new defensive coordinator their defensive guru in January 2024. Hafley will be tasked with improving a Packers defense that ranked 22nd in points per drive (2.0), 20th in yards per play (5.4), 25th in scoring percentage (39%) and 25th in third-down percentage in 2023 (41%).