As reported by PackersNews.com, all defensive staff coaches for the Green Bay Packers have been granted permission to explore other options subsequent to the hiring of Jeff Hafley as defensive coordinator.
Jerry Montgomery is one of them; he had a Saturday interview with the New England Patriots. It is possible that he will become a member of Jerod Mayo’s staff. Mayo was just named to head coach of the team, taking Bill Belichick’s post.
Additionally, Montgomery, 44, might end up joining the Packers again—and it wouldn’t be the first time.
After the 2017 season ended, the seasoned defensive line coach departed the Packers to become an associate head coach and defensive line coach at Texas A&M under Jimbo Fisher. After only two weeks, though, Montgomery had a change of heart and went back to Green Bay, where he would stay for the following six seasons and beyond.
“It’s been a little hectic,” he said in an interview with PackersNews.com. “But in the end, I had a fantastic opportunity to attend a fantastic program and work with a fantastic coaching staff. A&M and Coach Fisher will succeed there, in my opinion. In the end, this place in Green Bay offered my family and I the best opportunity.
This time around, that might not be the case. The Packers are happy to let Montgomery go and don’t anticipate having him back on the staff in 2024, according to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.
In Green Bay, Montgomery has become somewhat of a household name in recent years. He has outlasted Mike Pettine, Dom Capers, and the recently fired Joe Barry as defensive coordinators. Mike Daniels, a fourth-round selection in 2012, was supervised by him during his development and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2017. Kenny Clark’s rise has also been attributed to Montgomery, who joined the Packers in 2016 as a first-round selection. Clark has been selected to three Pro Bowls under Montgomery’s direction, the most recent being this past season when he took the position of the San Francisco,
There may be a change in both strategy and mindset in Hafley with a new face leading the defensive unit. As defensive ends, Rashan Gary and Preston Smith, the two leading edge rushers for the Packers, may see more opportunities to rush the quarterback with their hands in the grass. This would probably imply that outside linebackers and defensive ends are coached as a single unit, which would emphasize the team’s pass-rush specialist, Jason Rebrovich, more.
