The Green Bay Packers have established themselves as contenders and will hope that their 3-1-1 start will lead to a division title and a long run in the playoffs. And one of the biggest areas the Packers have succeeded is building a top-tier defense under Jeff Hafley.
The Packers' defensive coordinator arrived after stepping down as the head coach at Boston College last season and made an immediate impact, helping Green Bay rank fifth in yards and sixth in points in 2024 and fifth in yardage and 10th in points this season.
A resume like this will have Hafley as one of the top head coaching candidates in the upcoming cycle this winter, and a team has already emerged as a frontrunner when the Tennessee Titans fired Brian Callahan on Monday morning.
Packers DC Jeff Hafley Could Be a Top Candidate for Titans HC Job
Callahan didn’t last long with the Titans, posting a 4-19 record over 25 games. But he was also a shift from what made the Titans successful under former head coach Mike Vrabel.
Vrabel brought a hard-nosed approach to the Titans, and it paid off in a big way on the field. Leaning on a defense that perennially ranked in the top half of the league in scoring, Vrabel posted a 54-45 record over seven seasons in Tennessee and even led the Titans to the AFC Championship Game in 2019.
While there was plenty of success, things unraveled with a 13-21 record over his final two seasons and a disconnect with then-general manager Ran Carthon and owner Amy Adams Strunk. The Titans pivoted to Callahan, and the former offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals was overmatched from Day 1.
According to Nick Suss of The Tennessean, general manager Mike Borgonzi mentioned that a lack of growth and “continuous frustration” within the organization led to his dismissal, and the fact that the Titans just spent the No. 1 overall pick on quarterback Cam Ward hints that the Titans may want someone with an offensive background to be their next head coach. But teams usually go the opposite direction after firing a head coach, especially when that coach won a lot more than his successor did.
There are several options for the Titans to go if they want to go defensive, including Brian Flores of the Minnesota Vikings and Vance Joseph of the Denver Broncos. But if the Packers make a deep run, Hafley’s name will only become more coveted as the end-of-year coaching carousel gets closer, and Hafley could be on a plane to Tennessee the moment Green Bay’s season ends.
A saving grace for the Packers may be the Titans’ current dysfunction in the front office, as other head coaching candidates have waited for the right opportunity. Ben Johnson turned down the Washington Commanders before becoming the Chicago Bears head coach last season, while waiting for the right situation, and Liam Coen initially pulled his name out of the running for the Jacksonville Jaguars job before reversing course when general manager Trent Baalke was fired.
For what it’s worth, both Johnson (3-2) and Coen (4-2) have winning records in their first season on the job, while others, such as Aaron Glenn of the New York Jets (0-6), have struggled after taking the first job available.
But if the Titans make the right concessions, Hafley makes a lot of sense to bring them back to what made them successful. It’s something that will become a champagne problem if the Packers make a deep run into January or bring a fifth Lombardi Trophy back to Green Bay. But it’s something to monitor as Hafley continues to lead one of the league’s best defenses.