GREEN BAY – Jeff Hafley made clear he’s focused on how to extend the Green Bay Packers playoff run as long as possible, but he knows a decision might be looming whenever it ends.
After two seasons as the Packers defensive coordinator, Hafley has become a popular candidate for NFL head-coaching vacancies. It’s unclear who he might interview with after the season, since teams are barred from interviewing coaches from playoff teams until after the wild-card round, but Hafley aspires for the next opportunity.
“Would one day I like to be a head coach again?” Hafley said. “Absolutely, for sure.”
Hafley was a head coach for four seasons at Boston College before Packers coach Matt Lafleur hired him as defensive coordinator before the 2024 season. The Packers ranked sixth in points and yards allowed during his first season and were on track to be even better this year before Micah Parsons tore his ACL. They instead ranked 11th in points and 12th in yards allowed this season, which might make his return for 2026 more likely.
It’s still apparent Hafley has a bright future ahead of him, one that eventually could lead to him becoming an NFL head coach.
“Hearing my name out there, it’s obviously extremely flattering and very humbling,” he said. “I think when you work for an organization like the Packers and have a head coach like Matt, and players like we do and a defensive staff like we do, I’m just honored to be in those. I think right now with all that stuff, it can be a distraction. So I’m trying to lock in on these playoffs and do the best that we can, and then whenever that time comes, we’ll figure it out and go from there.
“But extremely honored and flattered just to be mentioned, but for right now this is the Bears. This is one of the biggest rivalries in all of football, one that I have watched for a very long time. Did not end the way we wanted it to the last time we played there. So I am going to do everything in my power to focus on every minute that I have to give this organization and these players everything I’ve got to go win this game.”
The possibility Hafley could be coaching his last game as the Packers defensive coordinator isn’t a surprise inside the locker room. Safety Evan Williams said he expects Hafley to be successful in whatever he does, including a potential head coach, after playing for him the past two seasons.
“One thing he says a lot in a lot of our meetings leading up to games is, just let the mistakes be on us,” Williams said. “Any mental mistakes you make during the game just means that we didn’t coach enough. Don’t even think about that during the game. We just want you playing as fast, as physical, holding our play still as [long as] you can. Me personally, that definitely allowed me to play a lot more free. Took the worry of, oh, am I going to make the wrong play here, just took that off of my shoulders. I feel like that really just tells who he is as a person. He’s a guy that will always take the blame for his players, is always looking to do everything he can to make sure we’re in the best position to succeed.
“I mean, he’s one of my favorite coaches that I’ve had, and I think that’s just because of who he is and how he approaches the game. He allows us to just play free, play fast, play physical, and also has a strong hold on what our standard is. I feel like everybody understands that and wants to play to that every week.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers’ Jeff Hafley focused on Bears but head-coaching job looms