GREEN BAY — Two years ago, Matt LaFleur interviewed Bobby Babich for the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator position that went to Jeff Hafley.
On Wednesday, the Packers head coach hired Babich, the Buffalo Bills former defensive coordinator, to be the team’s defensive passing-game coordinator and secondary coach under new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.
The Packers did not announce the hiring, as they historically have held off on staff announcements until the full staff is set. In fact, the team has yet to officially name Gannon as its defensive coordinator.
But NFL Network was first to report Babich’s hiring, and a source confirmed that he is on board.
Babich replaces Ryan Downard, who is leaving the Packers to join Hafley, the Miami Dolphins new head coach, in South Florida. Downard reportedly will be Hafley’s defensive passing-game coordinator.
It’s worth noting that Downard did not hold that title in Green Bay; veteran assistant Derrick Ansley was the Packers’ defensive passing game coordinator the past two seasons.
It’s unclear whether Ansley, who has defensive coordinator experience himself, will still have a role in Green Bay or not.
After LaFleur hired Hafley in 2024, Babich was promoted from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator by then-Bills head coach Sean McDermott, a former defensive coordinator himself.
The Bills finished the 2025 season ranked 12th in scoring defense (21.5 points per game) and seventh in total defense (293.1 yards per game). In 2024, the Bills were 11th in scoring defense (21.6 points per game) and 17th in total defense (341.5 yards per game).
The Bills fired McDermott following their AFC divisional playoff loss to the Denver Broncos earlier this month. They have since promoted their offensive coordinator, Joe Brady, to be their new head coach.
Babich’s father, Bob, was the offensive line coach at the University of Wisconsin in 1988 and 1989 under head coach Don Morton, when Bobby was a grade-schooler.
The elder Babich was the head coach at North Dakota State from 1997 through 2002, when his son was a freshman cornerback for the Bison.
Father and son coached together in Buffalo from 2017 through 2021, with Bob serving as the linebackers coach and Bobby serving as the Bills’ assistant defensive backs coach and safeties coach. When Bob retired after the 2021 season, his son took over as linebackers coach until his promotion to defensive coordinator in 2024.
“You kind of take on the traits of your father. I grew up going to practices, going to games and watching him coach,” Bobby Babich said in 2022. “I wanted to make sure that when I got into this profession, the nepotism thing was separate. I never wanted to work for him.
“With that being said, I’m sure there are some things I acquired from him in the way I go about things. Probably the best word to describe how I’m a little different is I’m a little more new-school and he’s a little bit more old-school, but I’d say there is a lot of similarities in energy and urgency, and just the way we go about every day.”
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