New Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley will bring a different style and potentially a different scheme to Green Bay in 2024.
At Boston College, Hafley ran a 4-3 defense. The base scheme is also what New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh runs as well, and the last time Hafley was in the NFL as the defensive backs coach of the 49ers, Saleh was his defensive coordinator.
However, throughout Hafley’s career, which has also included time in Tampa Bay and Cleveland as the defensive backs coach and one year with Ohio State as the co-defensive coordinator, he has operated in a variety of defensive systems, including a 3-4.
In a recent interview with Hafley, he discussed the importance of being able to adjust. Boston College led college football in single high safety looks during the 2021 and 2022 seasons and still used it at a high rate in 2023, but Hafley began utilizing more Cover-2, and emphasizes the importance of varying coverages, including playing press man, to keep the quarterback off-balanced.
Hafley also noted that the NFL is a different game than college because of where the hash marks are. This could also tell us that how Hafley operated at Ohio State and Boston College may not all translate to the Packers and the NFL level.
“We’ve been more middle closed defense with a safety in the middle of the field than probably most people in college football,” said Hafley in an interview with Next Up. “Most people are some type of 2-high or quarters based and I get it for the quarterback run games. We’ve been trending in that direction as well. But I’ve done a lot, at least at the starting point with the middle-closed with four down linemen. Very similar to what we did in San Francisco and Ohio State, and a lot of people do it in the NFL. But I’ve started to adapt. Create different one-high shells which really play like two-high shells and get extra guys in the box.
“You’ve just got to stop the quarterback run game. When I talk to my friends in the NFL and we talk defense together, it’s almost a different game. The quarterback in the NFL they’re going to run it in big moments or in the red zone or on third down or in a championship game, right? But you can’t do that week in and week out. You’ve got to account for an extra guy. So you’ve got to change.”
So, although Hafley utilized a 4-3 defense at Ohio State and at Boston College, I wouldn’t quite say it’s a leadpipe lock that the Packers transition to this style of defense, either. At the end of the day, Hafley wants to put the defenders in the best positions to be successful based on their skill sets, and his background coaching in a variety of different defenses allowed him to do that.
“I’m big on technique and I’m big on fundamentals, but (if) a guy can play at a high level, don’t try to change him to fit exactly what you think he should be. Just get him better,” Hafley said via the Wisconsin State Journal. “I always try to take stuff from players. I’ve always been big on picking players’ brains and trying to learn from them.
“I probably have learned just as much from really good players as I’ve learned from players … I try to get in their head to see what they think and how they do things and how they see things, because they’re out there seeing it more than I am. I see it on tape, but it’s different.”
If the Packers do, in fact, make this change to running a 4-3, it should be a pretty smooth transition for the defensive front, given the skill sets already on the roster, and Brian Gutekunst preferring big-bodied edge rushers. The Packers may need to tweak their offseason priorities by adding another TJ Slaton-like presence in the middle or bolstering the edge rusher depth, but for the most part, this should be a reasonable transition for this group.
Inside linebacker, however, where three players will have to be on the field when the Packers line up in their base defense, now becomes a much bigger priority this offseason.
Currently on the roster at inside linebacker are Quay Walker, De’Vondre Campbell, Isaiah McDuffie – who would be the starters – and Christian Young. It’s also possible that the Packers could move on from Campbell this offseason in favor of freeing up $2.6 million in needed cap space–further adding to an already existing need.
McDuffie played under Hafley during his final two seasons at Boston College before being drafted by Green Bay. The middle linebacker in this 4-3 defense is the commander of the unit and is tasked with helping in the run and dropping into coverage. The strong-side linebacker can have more run-defending and blitzing responsibilities, while the weak-side linebacker often has more coverage responsibilities.
The linebackers under Hafley have done an impressive job of being able to cause some chaos around the line of scrimmage while still being able to get depth and limit opportunities over the middle.
Addressing the safety position was already a top priority for Gutekunst this offseason, but that too becomes a bigger need, specifically finding a rangy free safety if Hafley does plan to utilize cover-1 more often, as well as a safety comfortable playing in the box if more single-high looks will be used.
As of now, the Packers’ safety room is made up of Benny Sapp, Anthony Johnson, and Zayne Anderson.
Regardless of what system Hafley goes with, there will be an emphasis on tackling. Prior to Hafley’s one season at Ohio State, the Buckeyes ranked 72nd in yards per play allowed on defense the season before. After one season with Hafley in charge of the defense, they ranked first. A key contributor to that turnaround was the work they did on their tackling, an area where the Packers have been extremely inconsistent.
“We don’t just talk about running to the ball,” Hafley said via The Athletic. “To me, the most important thing about tackling is the approach. I got up in front of the whole team, and Ryan had me talking about tackling in front of the whole team.
“I think people spend way too much time just talking about the finish and driving your legs and wrapping up. But people put themselves in such bad positions, where they’re not even close to being in a position to make the play. Everything we do, we just talked about tracking and the angle and the approach and getting yourself in the best position to actually get yourself having a fighting chance to make the tackle. Whether we’re doing a live period or not, we talk about that on every single play.”
In today’s NFL, whether a defense runs a 3-4 or a 4-3 doesn’t have the same impact as it once did. Most defenses spend a majority of their time in nickel anyways with the offense trying to spread things out. But nonetheless, the Packers need the right personnel for when they do run their base defense, and switching to a 4-3 puts an even brighter light on the linebacker position and perhaps changes how Gutekunst attacks that position this offseason.
More important than the scheme is having the right person leading the way. Ultimately, we have to wait and see how things unfold with Hafley at the helm of the Packers defense, but his past suggests that two big boxes will be checked: his willingness to adjust and his ability to make the gameplan digestible for his players–two things that had been missing previously in Green Bay.
“His preparation is some of the best I’ve seen,” said cornerback Richard Sherman who was coached by Hafley in San Francisco. “I’ve had some great defensive back coaches, some great defensive coaches, great defensive minds, and he’s right up there with his preparation and how he breaks down film and how easy and simple he makes the gameplan sound. How easy he makes it for guys to understand. He paints a very vivid picture of what you’re going to see and it’s all about executing on it.”
