Jan. 28, 2026, 9:36 a.m. CT

There are reasons to be skeptical over the Green Bay Packers‘ hiring of Jonathan Gannon as their new defense coordinator, with the biggest one arguably his unsuccessful stint as the head coach in Arizona, where he compiled a 15-36 record and a win percentage of just .294.

However, there is historical precedent to suggest he could have a renaissance with the Packers.

The story of a coveted defensive coordinator getting a head coaching job and failing is not a new one, and in most recent cases, coaches have been able to bounce back once returning to a defensive coordinator role.

In fact, there are eight examples in the NFL right now who have traveled that exact path.

Most recently, Brandon Staley was fired by the Chargers after going 24-24 in three seasons but just took the Saints defense from 27th in expected points added (EPA) per game in the season before he arrived, up to 8th.

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Vic Fangio went 19-30 as the head coach in Denver, but in his one year as the DC in Miami, lifted them from 21st to 12th in EPA, then moved on to Philadelphia and took the Eagles from 29th before he arrived to 2nd and 9th in the next two seasons.

Brian Flores was 24-25 with the Dolphins, then went to Minnesota and took the Vikings from 23rd to 18th in EPA in his first year, then all the way up to 3rd and 5th in the last two years.

Vance Joseph had a win percentage of just .344 with the Broncos. He was hired as the defensive coordinator in Arizona, and although they dropped from 20th to dead last in EPA in his first year, he then raised them up to 13th by year two and 5th in year three coaching the defense.

After being fired by the Jets with a 24-40 record, Todd Bowles took his services to Tampa Bay and lifted their defense from 29th in EPA per play up to 6th immediately and then held the Buccaneers at 6th and 7th in the following two seasons before being promoted to head coach.

Going back further, Dennis Allen went 8-28 as head coach of the Raiders between 2012 and 2014, before returning to New Orleans as the defensive coordinator. They were a terrible defense when he arrived – dead last in EPA – and remained poor for a couple of years, but he had them up to 15th by 2017 and 2nd by 2021, which was his final season as defensive coordinator before taking over from Sean Payton as head coach.

Jim Schwartz went 29-51 with the Lions, but took the Bills from 6th in EPA to 2nd in one year, before lifting Philadelphia from 21st up to 10th. His Eagles defense ranked 17th, 11th and 11th in the next three seasons, while his Cleveland defense has ranked 2nd, 15th and 3rd.

Steve Spagnuolo had a woeful .208 win percentage as head coach of the St. Louis Rams, but has rebuilt his reputation as one of the most respected DCs in the league since, having success with both the Giants and Chiefs.

Just because a defensive coordinator does not make a good head coach, it does not mean they cannot go back to having success running a defense. In fact, it seems the opposite is true, and most of the time these kinds of coaches rebound.

If Gannon fails as defensive coordinator of the Packers, it will more likely be the case that he was not as good of a coach as Matt LaFleur thought, rather than anything to do with his struggles as the head coach in Arizona.

He led the Eagles to a 5th placed finish in EPA in his final season there, having been ranked 18th in year one. He is also joining a team with talent, not one starting from the bottom. Micah Parsons, Edgerrin Cooper and Xavier McKinney are a good enough starting point.

Whether this hire propels Green Bay to a Super Bowl is another question, but there is enough historical precedent to suggest that at least the floor will be relatively high under Gannon.