Defensive Coordinator Candidates Thread

Gannon seems like a fine hire though you never know how it'll play out because so much depends on the talent of the players. At least we know that he can get the most out of top talent.

We'll probably never know if Gannon was his true first choice or if circumstances kinda dictated things a bit. Seems like Morris is waiting on other opportunities and ML may just have not been agreeable to Morris' timeline. As for Leonhard who knows, maybe there was mutual interest, maybe not.

If I had been ML I'd have passed on Leonhard only because you wonder if he'd bail for UW at his first opportunity. Normally I wouldn't give a damn if it happens after a few years, but with Fick's track record both he and Mac could be gone in a year and the new AD would surely have JL on top of his short list. Now if Fick was coming off a pair of 10 win seasons you know he'd be there for at least a few more years, but if the 2026 deason goes in the crapper, UW could be looking for a new coach as soon as November. No sense hiring a DC that could be pulled into that in less than a year unless you are absolutely sure he's the "best".
 
57packer said:
Gannon seems like a fine hire though you never know how it'll play out because so much depends on the talent of the players. At least we know that he can get the most out of top talent.

We'll probably never know if Gannon was his true first choice or if circumstances kinda dictated things a bit. Seems like Morris is waiting on other opportunities and ML may just have not been agreeable to Morris' timeline. As for Leonhard who knows, maybe there was mutual interest, maybe not.

If I had been ML I'd have passed on Leonhard only because you wonder if he'd bail for UW at his first opportunity. Normally I wouldn't give a damn if it happens after a few years, but with Fick's track record both he and Mac could be gone in a year and the new AD would surely have JL on top of his short list. Now if Fick was coming off a pair of 10 win seasons you know he'd be there for at least a few more years, but if the 2026 deason goes in the crapper, UW could be looking for a new coach as soon as November. No sense hiring a DC that could be pulled into that in less than a year unless you are absolutely sure he's the "best".
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I am not sure I would give Leonhard the WI job. I don't think he could navigate the NIL world any better then Fickell.
 
57packer said:
Gannon seems like a fine hire though you never know how it'll play out because so much depends on the talent of the players. At least we know that he can get the most out of top talent.

We'll probably never know if Gannon was his true first choice or if circumstances kinda dictated things a bit. Seems like Morris is waiting on other opportunities and ML may just have not been agreeable to Morris' timeline. As for Leonhard who knows, maybe there was mutual interest, maybe not.

If I had been ML I'd have passed on Leonhard only because you wonder if he'd bail for UW at his first opportunity. Normally I wouldn't give a damn if it happens after a few years, but with Fick's track record both he and Mac could be gone in a year and the new AD would surely have JL on top of his short list. Now if Fick was coming off a pair of 10 win seasons you know he'd be there for at least a few more years, but if the 2026 deason goes in the crapper, UW could be looking for a new coach as soon as November. No sense hiring a DC that could be pulled into that in less than a year unless you are absolutely sure he's the "best".
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Not only that, but if Fick gets canned early, imagine the speculation and distraction.... who needs it?
 
GBP4EVER said:
I am not sure I would give Leonhard the WI job. I don't think he could navigate the NIL world any better then Fickell.
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Who's navigating the NIL Transfer portal well?
I think some are just getting luckier. Every team is swapping 20-30% of its team each year
 
HowardK4 said:
Well, Indiana seems to have figured it out . .
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They got into it heavily first, but remember, half that first class he brought with him was from Coastal Carolina. He has said that he established the culture because of that and changed everything. Continuity and the portal have only worked there so far, but there is a reason, and it wasn't money.
 
Mark87 said:
They got into it heavily first, but remember, half that first class he brought with him was from Coastal Carolina. He has said that he established the culture because of that and changed everything. Continuity and the portal have only worked there so far, but there is a reason, and it wasn't money.
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well, they spent it wisely (Mark Cuban money). . . . kind of like Billy ball . . . But the point was, they brought in the right players thru the portal and turned that program around. A bunch of others are just throwing huge money at top players, hoping to land a few of them.
 
Mark87 said:
The Green Bay Packers are moving to a new schematic world under defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Matt LaFleur decided to hire the former Philadelphia Eagles DC and Arizona Cardinals head coach as his next defensive coordinator to replace Jeff Hafley, and most likely that means going back to a 3-4 base.

But that’s just a small part of what the defensive adjustments will mean for the defense. These days, teams play nickel packages around 70% of the time anyway, so the base only matters to a certain extent. The rest of the changes are much more intriguing.

Cody Alexander, from MatchQuarters, called Gannon’s defense a “unique system of hybrid fronts and college-style coverages.”

Gannon ran a Vic Fangio-style scheme in Philly, but he also worked under Mike Zimmer on the Minnesota Vikings and Matt Eberflus on the Indianapolis Colts. That’s more than enough schematic flexibility in his background to make necessary adaptations.

Differences from Hafley to Gannon​

In addition to running a 4-3 base, Jeff Hafley used primarily Cover 3 and 2 — in an ideal world, in this order. Hafley had to lean on disguised pressures without the defensive talent upfront back in 2024, which worked and showed his adaptability, but it’s not what he likes to do.

It is what Gannon likes to do. Disguised pressures and coverages were a big part of Gannon’s identity with the Cardinals — you can reasonably argue that the results weren’t any good, but the defensive talent had obvious deficiencies and went to a rebuild in 2025.

Gannon will prioritize five-man fronts and a heavy usage of quarters coverage. Nobody in the entire league had a higher-rate of Cover 4 in 2025. Gannon runs a decent share of man coverage when needed, and Cover 1 is his preferred coverage when he does that.

He doesn’t rely on blitzes too much, but disguises and stunts tend to be a big part of his weekly plan — which bodes well with the Packers’ disrupting defensive line personnel.

Adaptability​

In the real world, though, coaches have to adapt. During his time with the Eagles and Cardinals, Gannon talked about his priority to adjust his scheme to the players he has at disposal.

“The first thing is we’ve got to figure out what our players can do, and then we’ve got to put them in those situations as much as possible to utilize their strengths,” Gannon once said. “The main thing for us is, it’s not what we play. It’s how we play.”

The Packers have now a special circumstance with Micah Parsons coming from the edge — and making some type of transition from a 4-3 defensive end to a 3-4 outside linebacker, which seems to fit well what he does.

Defensive personnel​

One aspect in particular is intriguing for what the Packers have on defense. The Cardinals used a lot of three-safety looks — around 30% of the defensive snaps in 2025. That’s perfectly suitable for the Packers’ personnel with Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, and Javon Bullard.

The Packers will have a lot to figure out, and defensive personnel changes are realistic. But the scheme is going to inevitably look different, and Matt LaFleur isn’t shying away from a new reality even after two relatively successful seasons with Hafley at the helm.
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Thank you for the information. It was helpful.
 
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