Jeff Hafley Packers New DC

[call_me_ishmael]

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1755255118289858673

If Rex Ryan really is open to a DC spot, it is gross negligence to not talk to him. I guess we don't know if he did, but c'mon, this is crazy to not hire that guy based on his track record of success.

[Joemailman]

Adam Rittenberg
@ESPNRittenberg

Source: The Green Bay Packers are set to hire Miami (Ohio)’s Myles White as assistant wide receivers coach. He coached Miami’s wide receivers the past two seasons after stops at Stephen F. Austin and SMU. Football Scoop on it first.

The Packers signed White as an undrafted free agent out of Louisiana Tech in 2013. He spent two seasons in Green Bay, catching nine passes on 12 targets for 66 yards. The Packers released him before the 2015 regular season, and he went on to play for the New York Giants, New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the NFL level and Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Toronto Argonauts in the CFL before joining the coaching ranks.

[run pMc]

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1755255118289858673

If Rex Ryan really is open to a DC spot, it is gross negligence to not talk to him. I guess we don't know if he did, but c'mon, this is crazy to not hire that guy based on his track record of success.

Ryan has his agent float his name out there every year, primarily as a HC. Maybe he's changed his tune and is willing to consider a record setting salary as a DC.
Personally, I'd think the hours and longevity are better on TV. He's a brilliant defensive guy but he wears out his welcome pretty fast.

[run pMc]

Halfling is actually putting together a somewhat decent staff. Getting a couple of guys who were considered DC candidates as position coaches is a good thing... suggests they are good at what they do.

[Fritz]

Adam Rittenberg
@ESPNRittenberg

Source: The Green Bay Packers are set to hire Miami (Ohio)’s Myles White as assistant wide receivers coach. He coached Miami’s wide receivers the past two seasons after stops at Stephen F. Austin and SMU. Football Scoop on it first.

The Packers signed White as an undrafted free agent out of Louisiana Tech in 2013. He spent two seasons in Green Bay, catching nine passes on 12 targets for 66 yards. The Packers released him before the 2015 regular season, and he went on to play for the New York Giants, New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the NFL level and Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Toronto Argonauts in the CFL before joining the coaching ranks.

This is a crazy-weird hire. I don't follow college football any more, really, but Miami of Ohio was a middling program from a middling conference. They must love him like crazy to hire him as an NFL coach like that. It's a jump.

Cool. I like it when The Flower hires the young bucks.

[Joemailman]

This is a crazy-weird hire. I don't follow college football any more, really, but Miami of Ohio was a middling program from a middling conference. They must love him like crazy to hire him as an NFL coach like that. It's a jump.

Cool. I like it when The Flower hires the young bucks.

White was with the Packers for 2 months in 2023 as part of Diversity Coaching Fellowship. Must have made a good impression.

[Patler]

That Mannion hire the other day is a brilliant move, too - a longterm investment in a very exciting new coach. I can't believe that one's completely slipped under the radar here, except for your mention of it the day it happened. I was tempted to start a thread, but I'm too new here so I didn't. I think he has a hell of a future, and he's getting a lot of buzz on some other forums.

Why so enthusiastic about the Mannion hire? He doesn't have a day of coaching experience. I find the hire interesting, because LaFleur knows him and is willing to give him this opportunity. I see it much like the "coaching intern" opportunities we have seen former players get as their introductions to coaching. Some turn out well and go on to accomplished coaching careers. Some others never advance, and disappear from the coaching ranks. Still others try it for a few years, decide coaching is not for them and go on to other things, even if they were good coaches.

I look at this more as something for Mannion's benefit than the Packers.

[Bretsky]

Why so enthusiastic about the Mannion hire? He doesn't have a day of coaching experience. I find the hire interesting, because LaFleur knows him and is willing to give him this opportunity. I see it much like the "coaching intern" opportunities we have seen former players get as their introductions to coaching. Some turn out well and go on to accomplished coaching careers. Some others never advance, and disappear from the coaching ranks. Still others try it for a few years, decide coaching is not for them and go on to other things, even if they were good coaches.

I look at this more as something for Mannion's benefit than the Packers.

agree

At this point he was a WHC fire for me.

I think the coach they got from Miami has been their most impressive hire for the position they got him at. He was wanted by Phily and others.

[Joemailman]

The Mannion signing was good for both. MLF coached Mannion in LA and had been impressed by how smart he was. He may see Mannion as an eventual replacement for Clements. It was also a good move for Mannion who was down to being a PS player.

[Bretsky]

The Mannion signing was good for both. MLF coached Mannion in LA and had been impressed by how smart he was. He may see Mannion as an eventual replacement for Clements. It was also a good move for Mannion who was down to being a PS player.

ok, so it was great for Mannion and.......well...........we'll see

[Joemailman]

ok, so it was great for Mannion and.......well...........we'll see

Sure. You can say that about every coach signing. There are no guarantees.

[Patler]

The Mannion signing was good for both. MLF coached Mannion in LA and had been impressed by how smart he was. He may see Mannion as an eventual replacement for Clements. It was also a good move for Mannion who was down to being a PS player.

It is a great opportunity for Mannion, right now. For the Packers? Time will tell. Lots of smart players fail as coaches. Not all smart people make good teachers, and when all is said and done, coaches have to be good teachers.

MLF must have a feeling about him for sure, and if he is right it could turn out well for the Packers. I will be very interested in seeing how it goes. But for now it is a fairly meaningless hire for me.

[Patler]

Sure. You can say that about every coach signing. There are no guarantees.

Most NFL coach hires come with a history, some coaching experience on which to evaluate them. Those that don't are a shot in the dark. I feel about Mannion like I did about Rob Davis and Edgar Bennett when they came back in player development roles. It will be interesting to see where it goes. Bennett has had a nice coaching career. Davis stayed mostly in personnel roles in and out of football.

Kevin Greene seemed to be a very effective coach, but had a waivering committment to it.

[bobblehead]

Every coach is a first time coach once. Just like identifying talent and drafting well, MiLF has a job to do in identifying quality coach material. Sometimes it will be a first time coach. I get what you are saying about curbing the enthusiasm, but hopefully MiLF is good at identifying talent.

[Frozen Tundra]

Why so enthusiastic about the Mannion hire? He doesn't have a day of coaching experience. I find the hire interesting, because LaFleur knows him and is willing to give him this opportunity. I see it much like the "coaching intern" opportunities we have seen former players get as their introductions to coaching. Some turn out well and go on to accomplished coaching careers. Some others never advance, and disappear from the coaching ranks. Still others try it for a few years, decide coaching is not for them and go on to other things, even if they were good coaches.

I look at this more as something for Mannion's benefit than the Packers.

Certainly a fair question. Actually, I've known a few things about Mannion and sorta paid attention to him periodically for quite some time. And what I've learned over the years is that this is a very interesting kind of guy.

I lived in the Twin Cities most of my adult life (we really need a "vomit" emoji here for confessions such as that). Even after escaping, I still kept up on a lot of the news there, and I've seen a few stories about Mannion.

First, he's not some stereotypical journeyman player who's just trying to hang around the league because he doesn't know anything else. His Wonderlic was 40, which roughly corresponds to an IQ of around 140 - that's "near-genius" level. After graduating and being drafted by the Rams, he completed an interdisciplinary master's degree in political science, history, and sociology, with an eye toward becoming a college professor after retiring from football. He pulled a 3.7 GPA while completing the master's, while on an NFL roster. This is a very intelligent guy, and there's no limit to the things he could do with his life outside of football.

When he was with Minnesota in 2019, Mike Zimmer raved about how smart he was and how well he understood the game, often saying that having him in the QB room was like having another coach. Kirk Cousins, who is 4 years older than Mannion, said a number of times that Mannion helped him a great deal, and credited Mannion with helping him become a more consistent quarterback. Cousins thought very highly of him.

Coaches in Seattle said the same thing, and counted on him to be a mentor to Geno Smith and Drew Lock. Seahawks GM said that having him on the practice squad was like having a second quarterback coach, and said that the coaching staff considered him a peer. He also said Mannion is probably a future head coach if he decides to take that path.

He's apparetntly been on Lafleur's mind ever since 2017, when Matt was offensive coordinator for the Rams. Everywhere the Mannion's been, all the way back to high school, coaches and teammates have been impressed with his intelligence, his leadership, and his teaching skills. He's the only 3-year captain in the history of the Oregon State football program, having been voted in by his teammates every year from sophomore on.

I'm convinced this is a very good hire. He'll apparently be part of a 3-man coaching group, working all season under and with both QB coach Tom Clemens and WR coach/passing game coordinator Jason Vrable to help Jordan Love and the receivers. Lafleur said Clemens is coming back in 24 for one more year, but there is no guarantee he'll be back in 25. I think he expects Mannion to replace Clements when he does finally leave, and I think he has good reason to be confident in that. I believe this was a very smart move by Lafleur and Gutekunst.

Edit: Oh, and a bonus - a number of Vikings fans are majorly, majorly pissed that he came to work for us. Many of them have been clamoring for years already that the Vikings should just offer him a coaching job and ask him to retire as a player, and apparently quite a lot of them just assumed that when he did retire, he'd coach for them. Some of them are throwing tantrums and others are crying like babies.