Jeff Hafley Packers New DC

[bobblehead]

I have a hunch JL burned the bridge with MILF the first go round. He never should have went to the media and I think it would have been fine. Or if he went to the media, don't say he was offered the job, just say the timing wasn't right, etc. Stupid on his part.

Agreed, but so it holding grudges to the point it hurts oneself. Personally I think Jimmy was the best fit because he was a Wisconsin guy that probably would have loved to stay in the state. He probably would have been just a bit less likely to look for a HC job. Not saying he would have turned it down if offered the moon, just that we probably could have kept him for awhile.

Sometimes it makes sense to rule out a guy based on personal reasons, but more often you hurt yourself.

[Fritz]

Agreed, but so it holding grudges to the point it hurts oneself. Personally I think Jimmy was the best fit because he was a Wisconsin guy that probably would have loved to stay in the state. He probably would have been just a bit less likely to look for a HC job. Not saying he would have turned it down if offered the moon, just that we probably could have kept him for awhile.

Sometimes it makes sense to rule out a guy based on personal reasons, but more often you hurt yourself.

Thanks for posting that interview with Justis Mosqueda, Joe. He's pretty smart, it seems, pretty well-spoken. Wish the guy inteviewing Mosqueda hadn't said "literally" literally a dozen times, though.

An interview well worth watching.

We'll never know for sure why Leonhard didn't get an interview, and he's got another job now, so let's not be half-ass in our support of Half-ass-ly. Not until his defense gets gashed for a twenty-five yard run in the first game of the season. Then we'll get the torches and the tar-and-feathers out, pronto.

[Deputy Nutz]

I have a hunch JL burned the bridge with MILF the first go round. He never should have went to the media and I think it would have been fine. Or if he went to the media, don't say he was offered the job, just say the timing wasn't right, etc. Stupid on his part.

Wrong.

[call_me_ishmael]

Wrong.

Share what you know. Mine is pure conjecture. I still think going to the media and saying "listen they offered me the job, I didn't want it" was some bush league BS.

[Deputy Nutz]

Share what you know. Mine is pure conjecture. I still think going to the media and saying "listen they offered me the job, I didn't want it" was some bush league BS.

I think you are making that last part up. He didn't go to the media. If Leonhard was the right guy for the job 3 years ago and it didn't work out, then you are saying MLF had too big of an ego to reach back out to him because he felt rejected the first time? This isn't how the big boys play the game. I am not even sure he was officially offered the DC job in Green Bay. He took an interview and had discussions. The media got wind of it and he had to address it because he was still the defensive coordinator of the Badgers. I can't say for certain that he didn't want the job, I do know, he knew what kind of commitment it takes to work that job in the NFL, and at the time he was living in his college hometown making million a year as the DC at Wisconsin, he had young children and his wife was happy. Happy wife, happy life. Then Wisconsin spurned him good, he committed to a job he didn't actually need. He didn't want to be the head coach when Paul was there. He applied because he felt it was what was best for the program. He was lead down a road where he believed he was going to be the next head coach of the Badgers and it was all blown to pieces at the final hour. that I can say was a shock to the system.

Obviously the college landscape has changed dramatically since then. The NFL is now a less consuming job than college. It's crazy to say it, but the lid has been blown off college ball and its down right disgusting what the power brokers have done to the game.

[Bretsky]

Wrong.

what is wrong about that ?

[run pMc]

Do you think Leonhard could get a HC gig in college? If so, why didn't he?
Why did he take a DB coaching gig in the pros?

My guess is he sees the transfer portal/NIL nonsense and decided he wanted a 9-5 for at least part of the year (i.e., now) in the pros, but the best he could get after the last round of interviews was a positional coach job, not a DC job. It's entirely possible his time as an analyst made him a less-hot prospect, but the smoke around the Packers DC interviews does make you wonder. It feels like an overreaction for NO team to interview the guy for DC, but who knows. MLF wasn't bringing him in to get rejected again.

[Fritz]

Do you think Leonhard could get a HC gig in college? If so, why didn't he?
Why did he take a DB coaching gig in the pros?

My guess is he sees the transfer portal/NIL nonsense and decided he wanted a 9-5 for at least part of the year (i.e., now) in the pros, but the best he could get after the last round of interviews was a positional coach job, not a DC job. It's entirely possible his time as an analyst made him a less-hot prospect, but the smoke around the Packers DC interviews does make you wonder. It feels like an overreaction for NO team to interview the guy for DC, but who knows. MLF wasn't bringing him in to get rejected again.

That is the odd part. For a guy so many of us were clamoring for to not even get any DC interviews . . . that's a bit odd.

[MadtownPacker]

Maybe Leonard is building and waiting for the Packers HC gig to be available.

[sharpe1027]

Maybe JL is an absolutely terrible interviewer. Or he isn't just looking for the most money or flashiest title. Maybe he prefers the NFL and teaching DBs is something he really likes.

[Deputy Nutz]

Maybe JL is an absolutely terrible interviewer. Or he isn't just looking for the most money or flashiest title. Maybe he prefers the NFL and teaching DBs is something he really likes.

Interviewing isn't the issue. You are right on the last couple of sentences.

It eventually is about the money. I will say that he has turned down many jobs while he was the defensive coordinator for the badgers. He passed on Aranda money. If you don't have a current job and you keep passing on jobs those offers will eventually go away. It was sort of time to cash in and make the jump to the NFL.

From what I have heard the Denver job is a good jumping in point. He gets to run the secondary this year with potential to move up in the future. It's a win win at the moment. Payton was the head coach when Leonhard was with the Saints for cup of coffee. The connection is through the Ryan Defensive Tree of Coaches.


For Comparison sake, I interviewed for a head coaching position at one of the more storied high school programs in the state of Wisconsin. In reality I didn't want the job. I didn't want to move across the state and set up a new life in a town I had never been. The football side of it would have been great, but the rest of it would have sucked. Eventually it would have been fine, but it would have been a lot to deal with in the beginning. I have way more flexibility. My kids are gonna both be in college next year, my wife's job is flexible. We are financially in a position to make it work, but like I told her - I really like my life the way it is now.

[sharpe1027]

Interviewing isn't the issue. You are right on the last couple of sentences.

It eventually is about the money. I will say that he has turned down many jobs while he was the defensive coordinator for the badgers. He passed on Aranda money. If you don't have a current job and you keep passing on jobs those offers will eventually go away. It was sort of time to cash in and make the jump to the NFL.

From what I have heard the Denver job is a good jumping in point. He gets to run the secondary this year with potential to move up in the future. It's a win win at the moment. Payton was the head coach when Leonhard was with the Saints for cup of coffee. The connection is through the Ryan Defensive Tree of Coaches.


For Comparison sake, I interviewed for a head coaching position at one of the more storied high school programs in the state of Wisconsin. In reality I didn't want the job. I didn't want to move across the state and set up a new life in a town I had never been. The football side of it would have been great, but the rest of it would have sucked. Eventually it would have been fine, but it would have been a lot to deal with in the beginning. I have way more flexibility. My kids are gonna both be in college next year, my wife's job is flexible. We are financially in a position to make it work, but like I told her - I really like my life the way it is now.

Yeah, it's probably not due to his interview skills. My point is we don't really know what's going on. It could be any number of things. That being said, they do interviews for a reason so there's no way we can be sure his interviewing wasn't part of the problem.

[Joemailman]

MLF scheduled to have a PC at 2:45 followed by Hafley at 3:00.

[run pMc]

A D1 college HC is going to make more than an NFL position coach, and probably a coordinator. Hafley is taking a pay cut to coach vs. having to recruit, and then re-recruit his own players to keep them from transferring every year. What a nightmare CFB is now.
I don't blame Leonhard for jumping to the pros as a DB coach, honestly it's probably where he should be for starters, and I think he'll ascend eventually. Denver has some decent players in the secondary that will help him look good too.

I agree with patler and others on not bringing him in for an interview; I doubt it's about ego and more about just moving on. Leonhard is more of a Rex Ryan/Pettine type, and they tried that. Then they had a Fangio copycat. Now they're going with more of a Saleh clone. I suspect it's more about what flavor of scheme MLF wants than ego or anything else. That MLF's changing his scheme tastes makes you wonder a bit. I think having a DC who can adapt will be critical. Enough teams ran Fangio's scheme where it got a bit figured out (you also need a strong pass rush for it to work, and some teams lacked that), I think that happens to every scheme eventually.

If there was a perfect defensive scheme, everyone would run it... and then Goodell would outlaw it.

[Deputy Nutz]

I am not sure there was a problem. When you're a guy like Leonhard, that did well with his NFL money and coaching money, and you have made a name for yourself as a coach, you find the right fit for you and your family.