Divergent reports concerning the Packers staff under packers staff
Will the defensive assistants for Green Bay be back in 2024? Depending on who you hear, yes.
Ever since the Green Bay Packers signed Jeff Hafley, two conflicting claims on his prospective defensive staff have surfaced. originally, the news that the former head coach of Boston College would be rejoining the NFL was originally broken by ESPN’s Pete Thamel, a college football reporter.
The Packers’ entire coaching staff is under contract through the 2024 season, which means the team will need to fire coaches and give them their remaining salary in order to let them go. However, according to Thamel’s article on Hafley filing for the position of defensive coordinator, “some or all of [the Packers’ assistant defensive coaches] could return to work under Hafley.”
Tom Silverstein, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s daily Packers beat writer, isn’t so sure that’s the case, though. Head coach Matt LaFleur “has told the assistants they are free to explore other options,” according to Silverstein, adding there’s a good likelihood the organisation may consider hiring outside assistants. He added that when the team hired Joe Barry in 2021, LaFleur did indeed bring back the defensive coaching staff from 2020, which was then headed by Mike Pettine.
Under Barry, the Packers employed five full-time on-field coaching assistants in the previous season: defensive backs coach Ryan Downard, inside linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti, passing game coordinator Greg Williams, defensive line coach/running game coordinator Jerry Montgomery, and pass rush specialist Jason Rebrovich. It’s important to note that Downard and Hafley collaborated in Cleveland in the past, which suggests he’s one of the more likely options to rejoin the team as coach.
It would be rather amazing if Montgomery, who was first signed by the Packers in 2015 under head coach Mike McCarthy and defensive coordinator Dom Capers, could make a comeback. As the coach with the longest stay in Green Bay’s organisation, Montgomery may now get to collaborate with his fourth defensive coordinator in his
