The NFL coaching carousel is in full swing, and one name keeps popping up across multiple interviews: Jeff Hafley. The Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator, who spent four years as head coach at Boston College, is drawing serious interest from teams seeking their next leader. The Falcons, Cardinals, and Titans have all requested interviews, and the Dolphins are reportedly interested as well.[1]

For a coach who went just 22-26 in four seasons at Boston College, that level of NFL interest might seem surprising. But a closer look at Hafley's journey from Chestnut Hill to Green Bay—and the skills he developed along the way—reveals why NFL teams believe he's ready for the top job.

The Boston College Years: More Than Just Wins and Losses

When Hafley arrived at Boston College in December 2019, he inherited a program that had finished 125th nationally in total defense the previous season. In his first year, despite a pandemic-shortened season, the Eagles jumped 52 spots to 73rd in total defense while allowing nearly 62 fewer yards per game.[2]

But Hafley's real impact went beyond on-field results. He fundamentally changed Boston College's recruiting trajectory in ways the program had never experienced.

Recruiting Class	National Ranking	Significance
2021	38th	First top-40 class in a decade
2022	9th	Highest-ranked BC class in program history
2023	Top 25	Sustained elite recruiting

ESPN ranked Hafley as the No. 9 overall recruiter nationally for the 2020 class—an almost unheard-of achievement for a Boston College coach.[3] He built a national pipeline that brought elite talent from across the country to a program that had traditionally struggled to compete with ACC powerhouses for top recruits.

"Jeff is A-plus-plus in the relationship business, but not in a glib or salesman kind of way," said ESPN analyst and BC alum Joe Tessitore. "He has already taken recruiting to a level that has never been understood at BC."[4]

Hafley developed NFL talent too. Wide receiver Zay Flowers rewrote the Boston College record book under Hafley's guidance, setting career records for receptions (200), receiving yards (3,056), and receiving touchdowns (29). Flowers earned All-American honors in 2022 and is now starring for the Baltimore Ravens.[5]

The wins didn't always follow—Boston College went 6-5, 6-6, 3-9, and 7-6 in Hafley's four seasons—but the program's infrastructure transformed. Hafley proved he could recruit nationally, develop NFL-caliber players, manage a full program's operations, and build organizational culture. Those are exactly the CEO skills NFL teams seek in head coaches.

Why He Left: College Football's Changing Landscape

In January 2024, Hafley made a decision that raised eyebrows: he left a Power Five head coaching job to become an NFL defensive coordinator. He wasn't fired. He chose to leave.

The reason? College football had fundamentally changed.

"He wants to go coach football again in a league that is all about football," a source told ESPN. "College coaching has become fundraising, NIL and recruiting your own team and transfers."[6]

Hafley became the third sitting college head coach that offseason to leave voluntarily for an NFL coordinator position, joining South Alabama's Kane Wommack and Buffalo's Maurice Linguist (both went to Alabama). The moves reflected the widening resource gap in college football's NIL era—and Hafley's desire to focus on pure coaching rather than constant fundraising and roster management.

Green Bay offered the perfect landing spot. The Packers have a young, talented core and a bright future. Hafley had a longtime friendship with head coach Matt LaFleur and deep respect for the franchise. And critically, he'd get to work for one of the NFL's most stable and well-run organizations.[7]

Immediate Impact in Green Bay

Hafley's first season in Green Bay was nothing short of spectacular. The Packers defense went from mediocre to elite in one year:

Category	2023 Rank	2024 Rank	Improvement
Total Defense	17th	5th	+12 spots
Scoring Defense	23rd	6th	+17 spots
Run Defense	28th	7th	+21 spots
Takeaways	22nd (18)	4th (31)	+13 takeaways
Defensive DVOA	27th	7th	+20 spots

The 2024 Packers finished 5th in total defense—their best ranking since winning Super Bowl XLV in 2010. They allowed just 19.9 points per game, their fewest in over a decade.[8]

Even more impressively, Hafley achieved these results despite significant personnel challenges. The Packers played most of the season without two-time All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander. They finished 27th in pass-rush win rate, meaning Hafley had to manufacture pressure through scheme rather than relying on dominant pass rushers.[9]

His solution? Creative disguises and simulated pressures that kept opposing quarterbacks guessing.

Against Houston in Week 7, Hafley's defense held reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud to a career-low 86 passing yards. Stroud faced pressure on 45% of his dropbacks despite Green Bay only blitzing on 17% of plays. The Packers routinely showed seven or eight defenders on the line of scrimmage, only to drop three or four back into coverage at the snap.[10]

"We're getting to the halfway point in the season so we're understanding how we want to play," defensive end Rashan Gary said mid-season. "Understanding how teams want to attack us, understanding how we want to attack teams, and just the No. 1 thing, man, coming out with trust and executing the gameplan."[11]

The Packers featured 11 different players with at least one sack in 2024, tied for second-most in the NFL—a testament to Hafley's balanced, multiple approach that didn't rely on any single star.[12]

What Makes Hafley Different

So what exactly makes a coach with a losing record as a college head coach such an attractive NFL candidate? Three key factors:

1. Proven CEO Skills

Most NFL coordinator candidates have never managed a full organization. Hafley has. At Boston College, he oversaw recruiting, player development, staff management, fundraising, community relations, academic oversight, and game-day operations. He built a national recruiting infrastructure from scratch and transformed a program's culture.

"From day one, Boston College has been a special place for my family and I and we are thrilled to continue to be a part of this community," Hafley said when he signed a contract extension in 2021. "I am grateful for the dedication and hard work of our players, coaches and staff, who have come together to build a foundation for an incredible future."[13]

Those organizational skills translate directly to NFL head coaching, where managing egos, building culture, and unifying a front office matter just as much as X's and O's.

2. Elite Teaching and Communication

Hafley's reputation as a teacher and communicator preceded him. At Ohio State in 2019, he helped the Buckeyes jump from 72nd nationally to 1st in yards allowed per play in a single season. As an NFL defensive backs coach with San Francisco, he took the 49ers from 27th in passing defense in 2015 to 14th in 2016 and 11th in 2018.[14]

Players consistently praise his ability to simplify complex concepts and communicate in ways that resonate with different learning styles—a critical skill in the modern NFL's diverse locker rooms.

3. Adaptability and Innovation

Hafley didn't just copy Robert Saleh's defensive scheme from their time together in San Francisco. He adapted it, refined it, and made it his own. At Boston College, he ran a single-high defense with heavy Cover 1 and Cover 3 usage. In Green Bay, he adjusted to his personnel, using significantly more Cover 2 (21.1% of plays, 5th highest in the NFL) and deploying creative simulated pressures.[15]

The Packers ran zone coverage 78.2% of the time in 2024, yet finished 10th in Cover 3 EPA/play, 11th in Cover 1 EPA/play, and 7th in Cover 2 EPA/play. Hafley showed he can scheme around personnel limitations rather than demanding specific player types.[16]

The Interview Circuit

With the Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, and Tennessee Titans all requesting interviews, Hafley represents the rare candidate who brings both coordinator excellence and head coaching experience—even if that experience came at the college level rather than in the pros.[17]

The Falcons just fired Raheem Morris after back-to-back 8-9 seasons and are looking to revamp their entire football operations. The Cardinals are moving on from Jonathan Gannon after a disastrous 15-36 record over three seasons. The Titans parted ways with Brian Callahan after just one season and six games.[18]

All three teams are searching for a coach who can build culture, communicate effectively, develop young players, and run a complete organization. Hafley checks every box.

He can't interview until next week at the earliest, since the Packers are preparing for a Wild Card playoff game against the Bears. Virtual interviews can begin January 13 for most candidates, with in-person second rounds following.[19]

Why the College-to-NFL Pipeline Still Works

The NFL has become more open to hiring coaches with college backgrounds in recent years, recognizing that the skills required for success overlap more than many realize.

College coaches must:

Recruit relentlessly (relationship-building and sales skills)
Develop raw talent (player development expertise)
Build and maintain program culture (organizational leadership)
Manage massive staffs (delegation and personnel management)
Handle media and community relations (communication skills)
Oversee academic and compliance issues (attention to detail)

All of these translate directly to NFL head coaching responsibilities.

Hafley also brings extensive NFL experience from his previous seven seasons as a defensive backs coach with Tampa Bay, Cleveland, and San Francisco. He understands both the college development model and the NFL performance model—a rare combination that makes him particularly valuable.[20]

The Bottom Line

Will Jeff Hafley be a head coach in 2026? Probably not—the competition includes proven NFL coaches like John Harbaugh, Kevin Stefanski (two-time Coach of the Year) and Mike McCarthy. But will he get serious consideration? Absolutely. And will he land a head coaching job soon, possibly in 2027 or 2028 if not this cycle? All signs point to yes.

Teams are betting on Hafley because he's proven he can do more than call plays. He's built a program from the ground up, transformed a recruiting culture, developed NFL talent, and immediately turned around an NFL defense that had struggled for years.

His 22-26 record at Boston College doesn't tell the full story. The story is about a coach who elevated every program he touched, who builds elite relationships, who develops players, and who adapts his schemes to his personnel rather than demanding the personnel fit his scheme.

In today's NFL, where head coaches must be CEOs as much as tacticians, those skills matter more than ever. Teams looking for their next leader could do worse than betting on the former Boston College coach who's already proven he knows how to build something special.