Entering his 22nd season coaching in the NFL, Joe Barry begins his third year with the Packers in 2023 as the team's defensive coordinator.
Named to his position on Feb. 8, 2021, by Head Coach Matt LaFleur, Barry came to Green Bay after spending the previous four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams (2017-20) as assistant head coach/linebackers. He spent two years (2007-08) with Detroit and two seasons with Washington (2015-16) as a defensive coordinator.
In his first two seasons (2021-22) with Green Bay, Barry has helped the Packers rank in the top 10 in the NFL in interceptions (t-No. 4, 35), takeaways (t-No. 6, 50), defensive penalties (No. 6, 62), passing defense (No. 7, 208.0 ypg) and opponent passer rating (No. 9, 87.6). Green Bay's 50 takeaways in 2021-22 were its most over a two-season span since 2011-12 (61).
In 2022, Barry guided Green Bay to a No. 6 league ranking in passing defense (197.0 ypg), the fewest allowed by the Packers since 2010 (194.2 ypg). Green Bay was tied for No. 4 in the league with 17 INTs, with 16 of them coming in Weeks 7-18, the most in the NFL over that span. The Packers gave up 28 points or less in 16 of 17 games, tied for the most in the league in '22.
In his first season with Green Bay, Barry helped the Packers rank in the top 10 in the league in total defense (No. 9, 328.2 ypg), passing defense (No. 10, 219.1 ypg), INTs (t-No. 6, 18) and takeaways (t-No. 8, 26) despite playing without a pair of 2020 second-team All-Pro selections for much of the season in LB Za'Darius Smith (one game played) and CB Jaire Alexander (four games played). The 328.2 yards allowed per game were the fewest by Green Bay since 2010 (309.1 ypg) and the 26 takeaways were the most recorded by the Packers since 2014 (27).
During his four seasons with the Rams, Barry was a part of a defensive staff that helped the team rank No. 2 in the NFL over that span in sacks (192), tied for No. 2 in takeaways (104) and INTs (63), No. 7 in overall defense (329.9 ypg) and No. 9 in scoring defense (21.5 ppg), one of only three teams in the league (New Orleans, Pittsburgh) to finish in the top 10 in all five categories. Barry's linebackers accounted for 91 sacks from 2017-20, No. 7 in the NFL over that span, as well as 12 INTs (tied for No. 6) and 26 forced fumbles (No. 7).
The 2020 season saw the Rams lead the league in both scoring defense (18.5 ppg) and overall defense (281.9 ypg), the first time in franchise history that the team led the NFL in both categories. Los Angeles also led the NFL in pass defense (190.7 ypg) for the first time in team annals and ranked No. 2 in the NFL with 53 sacks. Under Barry's tutelage, LB Leonard Floyd posted a career-high 10½ sacks in his first season with the Rams after recording 11½ sacks in his previous three seasons (2017-19) with Chicago. Floyd also ranked No. 2 on the team in both QB hits (career-high 19) and tackles for a loss (career-best 11).
Under Barry's guidance in 2019, LB Cory Littleton led the team and ranked No. 8 in the NFL with a career-high 134 tackles (78 solo) while also posting 3½ sacks, two forced fumbles, nine passes defensed and two INTs. Littleton's 22 passes defensed from 2018-19 led all NFL linebackers and was the best two-year total since Panthers LB Luke Kuechly registered 22 from 2014-15.
Barry helped Littleton to a career year in his first season as a starter in 2018 as he registered a team-high 125 tackles (career-high 90 solo), a career-best four sacks, a career-high three INTs and 13 passes defensed, the most by an NFL linebacker in 2018 and the most by a Rams LB since Sportradar began tracking in 2000. In Barry's first season with the Rams in 2017, his linebackers helped the team to top-five rankings in both takeaways (28, No. 5) and sacks (48, No. 4), including five INTs from the linebackers (tied for No. 1 in the NFL). LBs Alec Ogletree (team-high 128) and Mark Barron (108) both registered 100-plus tackles, with Barron tying for the league lead among LBs with a career-high three INTs and Ogletree ranking tied for No. 2 among LBs with 10 passes defensed.
From 2015-16, Barry served as the defensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins, where he helped the club rank No. 3 in the NFL over that span in forced fumbles (39), tied for No. 10 in sacks (76) and tied for No. 11 in takeaways (48). In 2016, Barry's defense was tied for No. 9 in the NFL with 38 sacks, with LB Ryan Kerrigan ranking No. 8 in the NFL with 11 sacks and LB Trent Murphy adding a career-high nine sacks, the first time since 2009 that Washington had two players register nine-plus sacks in the same season.
In Barry's first season with Washington, the team was tied for the league lead in both forced fumbles (22) and opponent fumble recoveries (15). Washington was tied for No. 8 in the NFL in 2015 with 27 takeaways, including 26 in the final 14 weeks of the season, tied for No. 3 in the league over that span. Barry's defense ranked No. 17 in scoring defense (23.7 ppg) after Washington was tied for No. 29 in the category in 2014 (27.4 ppg).
Before joining Washington in 2015, Barry spent the previous three seasons (2012-14) coaching linebackers for the San Diego Chargers, where he was a part of a staff that helped the team to No. 9 rankings in overall defense in both 2012 and 2014. In Barry's first season, the Chargers registered 38 sacks (tied for No. 11 in the NFL), 21 of which were tallied by the team's linebackers, including a team-best 9½ from Shaun Phillips. Demorrio Williams posted two INT returns for TDs in '14, the first San Diego LB to do so in a season since 1979.
Barry spent the 2010-11 seasons as linebackers coach at USC, his second stint coaching at his alma mater. He tutored LB Malcolm Smith in 2010, a seventh-round pick of Seattle in 2011 who would go on to be named MVP of Super Bowl XLVIII with the Seahawks. Barry came to USC after one season as linebackers coach with Tampa Bay in 2009, his second stint with the Buccaneers.
From 2007-08, Barry served as the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, where he helped the team rank No. 1 in the league over that span in opponent fumbles recovered (34) and tied for No. 1 in forced fumbles (47). The Lions were tied for No. 3 in the NFL with 35 takeaways in 2007, the most posted by Detroit from 2001-22, and registered 37 sacks, tied for No. 9 in the league.
Barry came to Detroit after coaching the linebackers in Tampa Bay for six seasons (2001-06), a stretch that saw the Buccaneers lead the league in passing defense (177.2 ypg) and rank No. 2 in scoring defense (17.4 ppg), overall defense (285.7) and interceptions (123) over that span. He was part of a staff that helped Tampa Bay's defense to top-10 rankings in five consecutive seasons (2001-05), one of only two teams to do so over that span (Pittsburgh), including No. 1 overall finishes in both 2002 and 2005.
Barry tutored Hall of Fame LB Derrick Brooks, helping him earn first-team AP All-Pro honors three times (2002, 2004-05), Pro Bowl recognition in all six of those seasons and a spot on the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 2000s. Brooks was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 2002, the same season that Tampa Bay won its first Super Bowl title, and posted 170 tackles (117 solo) and a career-high five INTs. Brooks racked up 218 return yards on those INTs in '02, the most by a linebacker in a season in NFL history, and he became the only LB in league history to return three INTs for TDs in a season. LB Shelton Quarles also earned the lone Pro Bowl selection of his career under Barry's tutelage in 2002 after ranking No. 2 on the team with 159 tackles (84 solo) along with a career-high two INTs.
Barry's first NFL coaching position came in 2000 when he served as a defensive quality control coach for the San Francisco 49ers. He spent the previous five seasons in the collegiate coaching ranks, serving as the linebackers coach at UNLV (1999), the linebackers/defensive ends coach at Northern Arizona (1996-98) and as a graduate assistant/defensive line at USC in 1995.
Barry played linebacker at the University of Michigan from 1989-90 before transferring to USC and earning two letters for the Trojans in 1992-93. His father, Mike, coached 28 seasons at the collegiate level, two seasons in the USFL and three seasons with the Detroit Lions (2006-08). Barry's father-in-law, Rod Marinelli, retired in February 2022 after coaching 26 years in the NFL.
Barry was born July 5, 1970, in Murphysboro, Ill. He and his wife, Chris, have two daughters, Camryn and Lauren, and twin sons, Nick and Sam.
