GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers need a defensive coordinator.

Whoever coach Matt LaFleur selects will inherit a game-wrecking defensive force in Micah Parsons and several other high-quality starters.

“I wouldn’t say I want a say. I would just say I’ve been around some good DCs,” Parsons said. “There’s been Dan (Quinn), Zim (Mike Zimmer) and Haf. I’ve been blessed in my career. I’d just say bring someone who cares about the players.

“I just want someone the players can relate to, that we want to risk it all for. We’re in battle together, whether you’re up in the booth and you’re leading the charge or whether you’re on the field leading the charge. We’re all together, so I just want to be in battle with someone who wants to go to battle with us.”

Here are the known candidates.

Jonathan Gannon

Credentials: Former head coach, Arizona Cardinals; NFC-winning defensive coordinator, Philadelphia Eagles.

During a failed three-year run with the Cardinals, Gannon’s defenses ranked 30th in points allowed, 30th in opponent passer rating, 26th in yards per carry and 25th in takeaways.

However, in helping the Eagles reach the Super Bowl in 2022, they finished eighth in points allowed, second in total defense, first in yards per passing plays and first in sack percentage.

“This guy is an incredible coordinator. People love to play for this guy,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said during the Super Bowl run. “Every time I hear (criticism) about Jonathan Gannon, I laugh to myself. As a matter of fact, coaches from other teams ask me, ‘Does Jonathan Gannon get crap here?’ I’m like, ‘Somehow, yeah.’ Like, this guy is incredible.

“He’s going to be a head football coach in the National Football League because of what he does. This guy is a stud. He’s a stud.”

Here’s the full story.

Christian Parker

Credentials: Defensive passing-game coordinator, Philadelphia Eagles.

Parker got his start in the NFL as a quality-control coach for the Packers in 2019 and 2020, the first two seasons of LaFleur’s tenure. He was defensive backs coach for the Broncos from 2021 through 2023 and added the title of defensive passing-game coordinator for the Eagles the past two seasons.

Vic Fangio was head coach of the Broncos in 2021 and brought Parker with him to Philadelphia when he was hired as defensive coordinator in 2024.

“I could say a lot of things about him,” Eagles standout defensive back Cooper DeJean said recently. “What he’s meant to me and Q (Quinyon Mitchell), too. We’ve had a routine of me and Q go meet with him. two or three times a week just to go over the team we’re playing, talk about different looks. And I don’t think I’d be the player I am or I’d have the success that I’ve had without him.”

During his two years in Philly, the Eagles are second in points allowed, first in opponent passer rating, first in passing yards allowed, second in completion percentage allowed and tied for 14th in interceptions.

Here’s the full story.

Daronte Jones

Credentials: Defensive passing-game coordinator, Minnesota Vikings.

Jones was defensive backs coach for the Vikings in 2020 before a one-year stint as LSU’s defensive coordinator. He returned to Minnesota in 2022 as defensive backs coach before adding the title of defensive passing-game coordinator in 2023.

The past three seasons, the Vikings ranked 11th in opponent passer rating and ninth in interceptions as part of a defense that ranked third in points allowed.

“He does a really good job of communicating exactly what we need to get done and things that we can expect while also not overloading the group with things that can bog you down,” star safety Harrison Smith said via The Star-Tribune.

“There can be a balance there based on just experience levels. He’s been doing a great job of starting at the fundamentals and expanding from there and giving us enough information to grow without handicapping us.”

Here’s the full story.

Potential In-House Candidates

The Packers have two assistant coaches who have been defensive coordinators with defensive passing-game coordinator Derrick Ansley and defensive run-game coordinator/defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington. Neither of their one-year stints were successful.

In 2023, Ansley was the coordinator for the Chargers, though then-coach Brandon Staley essentially was the leader of the unit. They finished 24th in points allowed, 28th in total defense, 13th in yards per rushing attempt and 28th in yards per passing attempt. Really, the only phase that was strong was a fourth-place finish in goal-to-go.

Staley was fired at the end of the season, and Ansley joined the Packers as defensive passing-game coordinator.

“It’s about partnerships, give and take,” Ansley said in 2023. “It’s about seeking input and giving input, and that’s player-to-coach and coach-to-player. No coach has all the answers. The players are the ones that are seeing it through their helmet. I think that’s big for a coach, especially at this level, to have some flexibility to listen to the players, because the players sometimes know best.”

Covington was the defensive coordinator for Jerod Mayo’s failed one-year stint as Patriots coach. Handed a thin talent base, New England finished 22nd in points allowed, 22nd in total defense, 14th in yards per rushing attempt, 21st in yards per passing attempt and 32nd in sack percentage and 32nd in the red zone.

Mayo was fired after a 4-13 season, and LaFleur hired Covington to replace Jason Rebrovich.

“When you turn on the tape, what we want to see is a physical team, a team that plays with good discipline and fundamentals, and a team that attacks the football and takes it away from the opponent,” Covington said upon being promoted following seven seasons as an assistant.

A wild card could be Ryan Downard. The 37-year-old, who played at Eastern Michigan, joined the Packers as a defensive quality-control coach in 2018. LaFleur retained him in 2019, with Downard going from assistant defensive backs coach from 2019 through 2021 to safeties coach in 2022 to assistant defensive backs coach the past three seasons.

Big Shoes to Fill

Jeff Hafley earned his opportunity to coach the Miami Dolphins.

In two seasons on the job, Green Bay ranked eighth in points allowed, 14th in opponent passer rating, sixth in yards per carry and 10th in takeaways. He did it without a standout cornerback and while getting less than a full season with Micah Parsons.

“Yeah, that sh** would suck, I ain’t gonna lie. Ain’t gonna lie,” defensive back Javon Bullard said of potentially losing Hafley. “But, you know, that’s the beauty of this profession. That’s the sad part about this profession but it’s also a beautiful thing, too. You want everybody to succeed and level up, because that’s the same thing with somebody here going to get a new contract somewhere else. We wouldn’t want him to be sad for us, you know what I mean?”

Hafley probably will take some coaches with him. For instance, linebackers coach Sean Duggan and assistant defensive line coach Vince Oghobaase followed Hafley from Boston College to Green Bay.