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At the start of the fourth quarter in Saturday night’s NFC Wild Card game, it looked as if the Green Bay Packers would punch yet another ticket to the playoffs’ divisional round. However, a collapse by the Packers’ defense led to the Chicago Bears’ improbable comeback win, as the home team won 31-27. Despite Green Bay’s performance in the final 15 minutes, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is still in the hunt for multiple head coaching roles. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler via X, formerly Twitter, the Las Vegas Raiders and Miami Dolphins will be the fourth and fifth teams to interview the current leader of the Packers’ defense.
“The Las Vegas Raiders and Miami Dolphins are requesting to interview Packers DC Jeff Hafley for their head coaching positions, per source,” reported Fowler. “That will be five requests and counting for Hafley.”
Before taking over as the Packers’ defensive coordinator, Hafley was the head coach at Boston College. Ahead of his tenure at the ACC school, the veteran coach has held positions with multiple NFL teams and college programs. Now, as eight NFL teams deal with openings at head coach, will one of them, such as the Raiders or Dolphins, take a chance on Hafley?
Both the Raiders and Dolphins are looking for fresh starts. While Miami was one of two teams to also fire their general manager, Las Vegas GM John Spytek enters his second year in charge of the roster. His marriage with veteran head coach Pete Carroll lasted just one season, yet there are still high expectations out in the desert. Spytek and Raiders minority owner Tom Brady will look to bring in a head coach who could grow with their young roster.
Hafley could certainly fit that bill. However, the current Packers defensive coordinator has connections with new Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan, who recently left Green Bay’s front office to lead his own team. Bringing Hafley to South Florida would also help with the team’s pending retool, as multiple veterans like quarterback Tua Tagovailoa could be on the way out. Will Hafley roam the Raiders or Dolphins sidelines next season? Or choose to go elsewhere? In any case, it’s clear that the coaching carousel still has twists up its sleeve.
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