Following the dismissal of Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry, former Boston College Eagles head coach Jeff Hafley decided to replace Barry as the new defensive coordinator for the Packers.
In an article from on3, Hafley released a statement about how much he appreciated his time at Boston College.
“I loved my four years at Boston College,” Hafley said. “This is an exceptional place to coach given the caliber of student-athletes we recruit, the facilities, and the support from the University and BC fans. I will miss the players who gave so much of themselves these past four years, and my wife Gina and I will certainly miss the BC community and the many friends we have made here.”
In the same article, Boston College athletic director Blake James released a statement saying that they would confidently enter the market for a new head coach immediately.
“As a world-class institution with a strong tradition and a commitment to excellence, we are confident that we will find an exceptional new leader for our football program, and we will continue to do everything we can to support our student-athletes,” James said in a statement.
Green Bay Packers DC Jeff Hafley said he missed just coaching football at Boston College
A source said in an ESPN article that Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley thought NIL was preventing him from coaching football at Boston College.
“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. There’s no time to coach football anymore.
“A lot of things that he went back to college for have disappeared.”
Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban, who is widely considered to be the greatest coach in the history of college football, was reported to have retired due to NIL. Saban shot those reports down in a USA Today article, but he maintained that “everybody is frustrated about it.”
“Don’t make it about that. It’s not about that,” Saban said. “To me, if you choose to coach, you don’t need to be complaining about all that stuff. You need to adjust to it and adapt to it and do the best you can under the circumstances and not complain about it. Now, I think everybody is frustrated about it.
“But it ain’t about that. We’ve been in this era for three years now, and we’ve adapted to it and won in this era, too. It’s just that I’ve always known when it would be time to turn it over to somebody else, and this is that time.”
While the introduction of NIL has been beneficial for some schools, it may have put Boston College behind the eight ball. Big name brands like the Ohio State Buckeyes, who reportedly spent $13 million in NIL money this offseason, have a major competitive advantage over smaller brands like Boston College.
Boston College athletic director Blake James said in an interview on BC Interruption that Boston College will not be encouraging NIL collectives, which is how other big name programs fund massive NIL payouts for top-tier recruits.
Former Boston College head coach and new Green Bay Packers DC Jeff Hafley has NFL experience
New Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley doesn’t have defensive coordinator experience in the NFL, but he has defensive coordinator experience at Ohio State as well as defensive backs coach experience in the NFL.
Hafley served as an assistant on the defensive side of the ball for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers. When he was in Tampa Bay in 2013, he led their secondary unit to a third-best 21 interceptions.
Under former defensive coordinator Joe Barry, the Green Bay Packers ranked 31st in the NFL in interceptions with just seven. Barry was notorious for playing extremely soft defense in the secondary, but Hafley likes to press on the defensive side of the ball.
Soft zone, Joe Barry special pic.twitter.com/DVfVKHXx7X
— Denis Salazar (@nfldenis) October 29, 2023
Coach Jeff Hafley (BC) Press Coverage DB Thread
Why press coverage – eliminates route tree, forces WRs to declare now
Inside release – slant, dig, post (wide split)
Outside release – go,comeback (wide split) pic.twitter.com/N1Z1SF2KBl
— Chris Haddad (@chrisvIQtory) February 11, 2023
As someone who isn’t the head coach, Hafley will not have to deal with the recruitment/money aspect of NFL football. Although it is much more regulated, it is part of the job as an NFL head coach.
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