Sources – Packers to hire Boston College’s as DC

Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley is expected to become the Green Bay Packers' new defensive coordinator, sources tell ESPN.

Hafley went 22-26 in four seasons at Boston College, leading them to bowl eligibility in three of his four years. Boston College finished 7-6 this year with a win over No. 22 SMU in the Fenway Bowl.

Hafley has resisted NFL coaching opportunities in the past. But his reasons for taking the coordinator job are rooted in both the overall state of college football and the opportunity to work for one of the NFL's most respected franchises.

“He wants to go back to coaching football in a league all about football,” a source told ESPN. “College coaching has become fundraising, NIL and recruiting your own team and transfers. We don't have time to coach football anymore.

“A lot of the things he went back to college for are gone.”

Hafley becomes the third current college head coach to leave his position this year for a coordinator position. He follows South Alabama's Kane Wommack and Buffalo's Maurice Linguist. They both accepted coordinator positions at Alabama, and those moves speak to the gap between top-tier schools that are falling away from others in terms of resources. This has only been amplified in this era where name, image and likeness agreements are essential to recruitment and retention.

The future of the Packers has proven to be a big draw for Hafley, as they have a strong young core and a bright future. He is a longtime friend of Packers coach Matt LaFleur and a longtime admirer of the Packers franchise.

He will replace Joe Barry and be the third different defensive coordinator as LaFleur enters his sixth year as the franchise's head coach.

Although LaFleur and Hafley have never worked directly together, they have a mutual connection. Hafley was the Browns' defensive backs coach in 2014-15 under then-head coach Mike Pettine, who was LaFleur's first defensive coordinator in Green Bay (2019-20). Hafley also worked for 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, one of LaFleur's mentors. Hafley was the 49ers' defensive backs coach from 2016-18 before becoming co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State.

The rest of the Packers' defensive coaching staff is under contract through the 2024 season and none of them were let go when the Packers parted ways with Barry. So there's a good chance that some – or all – of them will return to work under Hafley.

Hafley is a veteran NFL assistant coach who worked seven years in the NFL coaching at various secondary positions before returning to college football as Ohio State's defensive coordinator in 2019.

Hafley became the head coach at Boston College after the 2019 season, taking over the 2020 season complicated by COVID-19. He had a losing record in four years – 3-9 in 2022.

Boston College's last three coaches have failed to win nine games, with the school's last nine-win season coming under Jeff Jagodzinski in 2008.

Hafley's time at Boston College included three of the best recruiting classes in BC history. In 2022, BC earned its first victory against an Associated Press-ranked opponent since 2014, when BC defeated 16th-ranked NC State. BC's victory this year was the school's first since 2016.

Information from ESPN's Rob Demovsky was used in this report.