GREEN BAY – The Packers have hired Jonathan Gannon as their new defensive coordinator. He succeeds Jeff Hafley, who was recently named the head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Gannon, 43, most recently served as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Prior to that, Gannon built one of the NFL's top defenses during a two-year run with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Here are five things to know about Green Bay's new DC:
- Gannon's defenses in Philadelphia were prolific.
The Eagles hired Gannon away from the Indianapolis Colts in 2021 to succeed Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator and the move paid immediate dividends.
Philadelphia had a top-10 defense during both of Gannon's seasons, ranking second in total defense in 2022 (301.5 yards per game) and first in pass defense (179.8 ypg).
Between 2021-22, the Eagles ranked third in total defense (315.1 ypg), third in pass defense (200.4 ypg), and tied for fourth in total return TDs (7) and INT return TDs (four).
The 2022 unit was notorious for its pressure-packed pass rush, leading the NFL with a franchise single-season record 70 sacks in the regular season.
That year, the Eagles became the first team ever to have four different players with 10-plus sacks in a single season (Haason Reddick, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham).
After allowing just 14 combined points in dominant playoff wins over the New York Giants and San Francisco, the Eagles suffered a narrow 38-35 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.
Two days later, Gannon was hired as 38th head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. He went 15-36 in three seasons in Glendale.
- Matt LaFleur has been vocal about his admiration of Gannon and his defenses.
The Packers' head coach has never worked with Gannon, but he was effusive in his praise of Gannon's scheme following their teams' recent encounters.
After a down-to-the-wire 27-23 Green Bay win in Arizona last October, LaFleur was complimentary of the Cardinals' defensive complexity and their ability to disguise coverages.
"The genius in what they do is they don't give you looks that are easy, that you can tell, 'Oh, this is a man coverage look,'" LaFleur said. "They disguise the look well. It wasn't until after we motioned that it was like, 'Oh, it looks like it's man.' So, give credit to them."
Green Bay also prevailed over the Cardinals in an October 2024 tilt at Lambeau Field. Despite the Packers' 34-13 victory, LaFleur commended Arizona for keeping an "umbrella on the defense" that forced Green Bay to "dink-and-dunk" to move the ball.
"They were playing pretty soft and took a lot of things that we wanted to do, or we saw on tape, away," LaFleur said. "(They) just tried to make us play perfect, which we were far from perfect. So, give credit to them. I have a lot of respect for those guys. Gannon, I think, does a hell of a job."
- Like Hafley, Gannon has a secondary background.
He played safety at Louisville and appeared in nine games before suffering a career-ending hip injury during his first collegiate start in a 2002 game at Cincinnati.
Gannon then shifted his focus to coaching, serving the next four years as a student assistant and graduate assistant on Bobby Petrino's staff. Petrino took Gannon with him to Atlanta upon his hiring as the Falcons' head coach in 2007.
After announcing Hafley's hiring as DC in 2024, LaFleur said one of the things that stood out to him most was Hafley's vast experience coaching the secondary.
"It's such a pass-dominant league," said LaFleur in February 2024. "That was definitely one of the most appealing things to me was his ability to lead from the back end."
- Gannon received his big break in Indianapolis.
Gannon assisted former Packers defensive passing game coordinator Jerry Gray in Minnesota from 2013-17.
Those four seasons on Mike Zimmer's Vikings coaching staff eventually earned Gannon a place on Frank Reich's inaugural coaching staff in Indianapolis.
He coached the Colts' defensive backs from 2018-20, overseeing a secondary that helped Indianapolis rank sixth in the NFL in interceptions (45, tied), ninth in scoring defense (22.5 ppg) and 10th in total defense (339.5 ypg) and red-zone defense (55.9%, tied) during that span.
The Colts' defense peaked during Gannon's final season in 2020, with Indianapolis finishing fifth in takeaways (25) in the NFL and ranked seventh in INTs (15, tied), and eighth in total yards allowed per game (332.1).
- Gannon worked in the St. Louis Rams' personnel department for three seasons.
After his year as a defensive quality control coach in Atlanta, Gannon had a three-year stint in the Rams' scouting department.
He started as a college scout before transitioning to the pro side under then-St. Louis general manager Billy Devaney, who previously served as the Falcons' assistant GM in 2006-07.
The Rams let Devaney go in 2011, and Gannon moved back to coaching as a defensive quality control assistant with Tennessee in 2012.
"I was on the personnel side for three years and it gave me a different view of the game," said Gannon during his introductory news conference with Arizona in 2023. "It gave me a bird's-eye view of how that operation runs, why the personnel and the scouts that are going on school calls are so vital to a team's success because I did that. I feel like I learned how to evaluate players as I was going through that process."
