Jonathan Gannon is the third defensive coordinator that head coach Matt LaFleur has hired during his tenure with the Green Bay Packers, following Joe Barry and Jeff Hafley. But there’s one distinct difference in the newest DC that reportedly played a part in LaFleur’s choice.

While Hafley was a head coach in the college ranks at Boston College, Gannon is coming off three years of head coaching experience in the NFL.

Before everyone points out Gannon’s record during those three years, the experience is valuable nonetheless. To what degree differs depending on who you ask, but let’s go back to what LaFleur said after choosing Hafley two years ago.

“I think one benefit from my perspective is he’s sat in the same seat,” LaFleur said. “So it’s good for us to be able to bounce ideas off each other. He’s going to be someone I certainly lean on.”

Not all head-coaching experience is equal. Still, the fact that Hafley had some, albeit in the college ranks, mattered to LaFleur. Many, especially Badgers fans, were clamoring for Jim Leonhard. Still, outside of a brief interim stint as head coach at Wisconsin, Leonhard didn’t offer that. Nor did he offer NFL defensive coordinator experience.

You may not care that Gannon was an NFL head coach. I may not care as much, either. LaFleur does, though, and ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reported that it played a part.

Gannon was fired by the Cardinals after a 3-14 record this season and went 15-36 in three seasons as Arizona coach. A source told ESPN that LaFleur ‘loved the fact that [Gannon has] sat in the [head coach’s] chair.’

Aside from the head coaching experience, Gannon also has the benefit of having been a defensive coordinator in the NFL. He held that role in 2021 and 2022 with the Philadelphia Eagles, which included a Super Bowl appearance in the second of those two years.

In Barry, LaFleur hired someone who had been a defensive coordinator twice already in the NFL, with previous stops in Detroit and Washington. Were they stellar seasons for Barry? Absolutely not, but that’s a different story for a different day.

On the other hand, Hafley had college head coaching experience. However, the DC gig in Green Bay was his first time back in the NFL since 2018. A lot can change in the league during that time.

Still, Gannon has held high-ranking roles in the NFL for the past five years. The learning curve in Green Bay shouldn’t be too steep; he’s been in the league in some capacity every year dating back to 2012.

Jonathan Gannon has many similarities with Barry and Hafley. Like the former two defensive coordinators, Gannon will likely play a lot of zone coverage with minimal blitzing. Where Gannon differs is the recent experience he brings to a new — though not entirely unfamiliar — job, which he can view with fresh eyes.

If that’s the recipe for success, the hire will look both somewhat obvious but brilliant in retrospect, even if some fans are currently dismissing it as another safe play from LaFleur.