GREEN BAY — With the NFL coaching carousel in full swing, Jeff Hafley surely knew there was a chance he’d get a question about his own head-coaching aspirations during his regular weekly Q&A session with reporters on Wednesday.

And while the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator did acknowledge hearing the chatter about his candidacy and his desire to be a head coach again someday — as well as expressed his gratitude for his time in Titletown — Hafley turned the conversation on its head by, well, basically predicting a Packers victory over the Chicago Bears in Saturday night’s NFC wild card playoff matchup between the division rivals at Soldier Field.

This guy. pic.twitter.com/zAn3KvcOUy

— Jason Wilde (@jasonjwilde) January 7, 2026

“I love this group. I love being part of the Green Bay Packers. And I never take that for granted every day when I drive in and I get to see Lambeau Field. Honestly,” Hafley said as the Packers (9-7-1) continued their preparations for the Bears (11-6). “I’m a guy who started coaching Division III football and worked my way up to be a college head coach, and now I’m part of the greatest NFL organization that there is, getting to call the [defensive] plays. So that is so humbling to me.

“I love these guys and I love the staff and I love working for Matt [LaFleur], and I never take that for granted, not one second. Which is why when I answer that question [about head-coaching openings], I don’t think it’d be fair to anybody [who’s] a part of this, for me not to give everything I have for this game.

“Would one day I like to be a head coach again? Absolutely. For sure. But I just am so grateful and so happy to be here and be part of this, and I’ve just loved coming to work every single day here. … Everything that I have been a part of here from ‘Gutey’ (general manager Brian Gutekunst), to [team president] Ed [Policy[, to Matt, it’s just been like what a blessing to be here for me and my family. So I appreciate that.

“[But] we are not going to be done, so I will see you guys next week.”

Translation? The Packers’ weekly interview sessions with reporters only happen during game weeks, so they’d have to beat the Bears for there to be another such gathering next week.

Right now, there are seven head-coaching jobs open league-wide: The Baltimore Ravens, the New York Giants, the Cleveland Browns, the Atlanta Falcons, the Arizona Cardinals, the Tennessee Titans, and the Las Vegas Raiders.

Among the candidates for those jobs are ex-Ravens coach John Harbaugh, and ex-Packers and Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, who is set to interview with the Giants and Titans next week.

There are also a host of up-and-coming assistant coaches who are on teams’ radar, including Hafley, who was reported to be among the Giants’ top candidates when they fired Brian Daboll at midseason.

And LaFleur, for one, seems to understand that he’s likely to lose his defensive mastermind sooner or later.

“He’s a stud. He’s a stud. I can’t say enough great things about him,” LaFleur said when asked about Hafley’s potential head-coaching opportunities in November. “We’re fortunate to have him. He’s a great mind, [but] he’s a great person first and foremost, which is absolutely paramount if you want to be here.

“He’s super consistent in what he does. He holds a high standard, and he’s a great football mind.”

Hafley will have to use his football IQ to beat the Bears, who had trouble consistently moving the ball in the teams’ two regular-season meetings this year — a 28-21 Packers victory at Lambeau Field on Dec. 7, and a 22-16 Bears overtime win at Soldier Field on Dec. 20.

Which is why, Hafley insisted, his focus is on beating the Bears, not his next job opportunity.

“Hearing my name out there it’s obviously extremely flattering,” said Hafley, who interviewed for the New York Jets head-coaching job last offseason and came to the Packers in January 2024 after four seasons as Boston College’s head coach. “[But] right now with all that stuff, it can be a distraction, so I’m trying to lock in on these playoffs and do the best that we can and then whenever that time comes, we’ll figure it out and go from there.

“For right now, this is the Bears. This is one of the biggest rivalries in all of football, one that I have watched for a very long time. [The game] did not end the way we wanted to the last time we played there, so I’m going to do everything in my power to focus on every minute that I have to give this organization and our players everything I got to go win this game.”

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