Unsurprisingly, Jeff Hafley has hired defensive assistants from the Green Bay Packers to his first coaching staff with the Miami Dolphins. First, Hafley brought Packers linebackers coach Sean Duggan and defensive backs coach Ryan Downard to Miami.
Then Wednesday night, NFL insider Aaron Wilson reported two more 2025 Packers assistants will be joining Hafley with the Dolphins.
“Dolphins hire Packers defensive quality control coach Wendel Davis, per league source,” wrote Wilson on X.
“Defensive passing game coordinator Derrick Ansley leaving Packers coaching staff after hire of Bobby Babich to same title, per a league source,” also wrote Wilson.
As Wilson explained, the Packers already have a replacement for Derrick Ansley. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Wednesday the Packers hired Bobby Babich as their next defensive pass game coordinator/secondary coach.
But overall, the Packers will have to find four new defensive assistants for Matt LaFleur’s 2026 staff. That also doesn’t include Hafley’s defensive coordinator role.
Green Bay has already hired Jonathan Gannon as its next defensive coordinator.
Dolphins Hire Derrick Ansley, Wendel Davis: Reports
Thanks to the Dolphins hiring Hafley, the Packers defensive staff is going to look quite a bit different. Maybe that’s for the best given how 2025 ended for Green Bay.
Injuries were obviously a major issue for the Packers by the end of the season, but the team lost its final five games, including the playoffs. In the postseason, Green Bay blew an 18-point lead.
SB Nation’s Justis Mosqueda argued it was a little surprising Gannon didn’t try harder to retain Ansley because both coaches have similar defensive backgrounds in Cover 4. But Gannon is forming his own staff with few Hafley holdovers.
“It looks like Gannon wants his own guys in the building, but it is interesting that the coaches the Packers are losing — which, to be fair, are mostly going to Hafley — haven’t been reported to be fired,” wrote Mosqueda. “A staff changeover without needing to get into the buyout world might have been the best option for the 2026 Packers.
“Sometimes assistant coaches and the organization just agree to mutually part ways without buyout money needing to exchange hands, like when offensive line coach James Campen was still under contract with the Packers and was allowed to leave for the Cleveland Browns in 2019.”
Packers Hire Sam Siefkes as Linebackers Coach
As quickly as the Packers have lost some coaches to Miami, they have fills the voids nearly as fast.
On Thursday, CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz reported the Packers will hire Sam Siefkes as linebackers coach.
Seifkes previously served as the Virginia Tech defensive coordinator. From 2021-24, he was a defensive assistant with the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals.
This season will be a homecoming of sorts for Seifkes. An Oconomowoc, Wisconsin native, Seifkes played football at Wisconsin-La Crosse. He also began his coaching career at the school.
Gannon will be Green Bay’s defensive coordinator in 2026 after three years as the head coach of the Cardinals. Siefkes worked under Gannon in Arizona for two seasons.
Gannon was the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator from 2021-22. In 2022, the Eagles finished ranked second in yards allowed and eighth in points yielded.
Packers Get 2 More Coaches Poached by Jeff Hafley’s Dolphins