The Green Bay Packers are searching for a new defensive coordinator. Days after the team announced that they had agreed to terms on a contract extension with head coach Matt LaFleur, his defensive coordinator, Jeff Hafley, accepted the heading coaching position with the Miami Dolphins. Former Packers executive Jon Eric-Sullivan was recently hired as the Dolphins general manager.
Hafley spent two seasons in Green Bay following the dismissal of Joe Barry. He had previously been the head coach at Boston College, and before that had been a defensive backs coach for various NFL and college teams.
During his end of season press conference, LaFleur stated that he was confident that Hafley was going to get a head coaching job in this cycle, so it should come as no surprise that he already has a short list of candidate that he would like to interview for the job.
Green Bay Packers will interview Christian Parker for their defensive coordinator job
As mentioned, Hafley was Green Bay’s defensive coordinator for just two seasons before landing the Dolphins head coaching job. He had been hired prior to the 2024 NFL season after Barry was dismissed. And Barry was hired back in 2021 after LaFleur’s first choice for defensive coordinator, Jim Leonhard, turned down the job because he believed he was in line to be the next head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers.
In other words, the Packers are no strangers to searching for a defensive coordinator, and there are no shortage of quality candidates.
And the first person who is reportedly interviewing for Green Bay’s vacancy is one of their former coaches:
Sources: The #Packers will interview #Eagles DBs coach and pass-game coordinator Christian Parker for their vacant DC job after Jeff Hafley took the Dolphins head-coaching position.
Parker, a rising star in the coaching ranks, flies to Dallas tomorrow to interview with the… https://t.co/QoVwwybCAB pic.twitter.com/0pX06g101R
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 20, 2026
Christian Parker was a Packers defensive quality control coach from 2019-2020 under former defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. He then was hired as the defensive backs coach for the Denver Broncos, where he helped develop Patrick Surtain II, the 2024 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Parker was then hired by the Philadelphia Eagles to be their defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach. Last year, his defense helped lead Philadelphia to a Super Bowl Championship.
More Green Bay Packers news from Wisconsin Sports Heroics
- Ex-Packers star David Bakhtiari gets PFF’s help in flex over former rival Khalil Mack
- Jeff Hafley hiring earning negativity from Dolphins fans
- Packers lose Jeff Hafley to AFC team
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