The Green Bay Packers promoted Ryan Downard to assistant defensive backs coach on Jan. 31, 2019.
Downard (DOWN-erd) begins his second season in Green Bay after serving as the defensive quality control coach last year. He came to Green Bay after working at Bowling Green for two seasons, serving as the safeties coach in 2017 and the director of football operations in 2016. In 2017, he oversaw the development of Marcus Milton, who converted from cornerback to tie for the team lead with three interceptions, as well as junior-college transfer Fred Garth, who led the team with 95 tackles. From 2014-15, Downard was a defensive coaching assistant with the Cleveland Browns, assisting with the defensive line in 2014 and the defensive backs in 2015. Prior to his two seasons with the Browns, he served as a graduate assistant at both Texas Tech and Toledo. Downard played defensive back at Eastern Michigan, where he earned honorable mention Freshman All-America recognition from Scout.com in 2007 after ranking No. 2 in the country among freshmen with six interceptions.
