The Green Bay Packers have had a bit of an odd season from a coaching standpoint. Obviously, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley left to be the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, but he also brought a bunch of people with him to Miami that the Packers could have blocked from taking, what, in the eyes of the league, were lateral jobs. Essentially, if any coach was under contract as a non-offensive or defensive coordinator, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur could have blocked those coaches from leaving for another non-offensive or defensive coordinator title with another team.

While LaFleur couldn’t have prevented Hafley from going to Miami, linebackers coach Sean Duggan becoming Hafley’s defensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion becoming the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive coordinator, LaFleur could have prevented receivers coach Rhyan Mahaffey (now Eagles tight ends coach and run game coordinator), pass game coordinator Derrick Ansley (now Dallas Cowboys pass game coordinator) and defensive backs coach Ryan Downard (now Dolphins secondary coach) from leaving Green Bay, as long as they were under contract. So far, there has been no reporting that any of these coaches were let go by the team, either via a firing or an expiring deal.

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On Friday, ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques, who covers the Dolphins, dropped some interesting information about how Duggan, specifically, ended up in Miami:

After Jeff Hafley was hired as the Miami Dolphins’ head coach, and after all pleasantries were exchanged with his former boss, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur, the two men discussed who Hafley would be taking with him to South Florida.

LaFleur staked his claim on then-linebackers coach Sean Duggan; Hafley made a simple counter.

“No, Sean’s coming with me.”

Consider it Hafley’s first win over his former employer.

…

“Ultimately [LaFleur and I] decided that it was best for Sean to come here,” Hafley said Wednesday. “And I say that not because he’s been with me for eight or nine years, whatever it’s been. I say that I think he’s a rising star, and he’s going to allow me to be the head coach of his team.

“I’m going to be able to touch all three phases with how good this guy is, and he’s going to allow me to be the head coach. And then when it’s time for me to call the defense, I’ll be able to call the defense.”

This is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, LaFleur couldn’t have blocked Duggan from becoming Miami’s defensive coordinator, so it wouldn’t have mattered whether LaFleur wanted to have him back in 2026 or not. Secondly, the linebackers, specifically Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper, regressed in 2025 under Duggan, his first year as the team’s linebackers coach, compared to the second half of 2024, when Anthony Campanile, now the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defensive coordinator, was leading the unit. Obviously, Duggan has long-standing ties with Hafley, as he was one of two coaches, along with assistant defensive line coach Vince Oghobaase, whom Hafley brought with him from Boston College.

Duggan had served as BC’s linebackers coach under Hafley, and he was a graduate assistant for Ohio State in 2019, when Hafley was the team’s co-defensive coordinator. In 2023, Hafley’s final year at Boston College, he named Duggan co-defensive coordinator on top of his title as linebackers coach, when his previous defensive coordinator, Tem Lukabu, left to be an assistant coach in the NFL. Duggan served the role of “defensive assistant” in Hafley’s first year with Green Bay, before Campanile received the promotion in Jacksonville.

Under defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, the team’s defensive staff has been almost completely reshaped, with the only on-field assistant who hasn’t reportedly left for another gig this cycle being defensive line coach/run game coordinator DeMarcus Covington. As of now, the reported signings under Gannon have been pass game coordinator Bobby Babich, defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks and linebackers coach Sam Siefkes. Siefkes, Duggan’s replacement, previously coached for Gannon as his linebackers coach in Arizona from 2023 to 2024, before taking over as Virginia Tech’s defensive coordinator in 2025, a role he held for just one year before being displaced by former VT head coach Brent Pry being moved to defensive coordinator after the hiring of head coach James Franklin.