GREEN BAY, Wis. – For Green Bay Packers linebacker Isaiah McDuffie, the team’s hiring of Jeff Hafley as defensive coordinator was a “full-circle” moment.
“It was crazy because my fourth year of college, I had him as my head coach. And now my fourth year in the NFL, I have him as the DC,” McDuffie told Packer Central on Thursday.
“He came in and he definitely changed the culture of our program. And we had a winning season that year. Defensively, a lot of guys got opportunities, me being one of them, to take the next step in my play. Definitely he brings that energy, and he’s super-smart, super-detailed. I think he’s going to do a great job. I’m just excited to reconnect.”
Hafley was named Boston College’s head coach in 2020. That coincided with McDuffie’s senior season at BC. With Hafley putting him in position to be a playmaker, he had the best season of his career with 107 tackles, three sacks and 6.5 tackles for losses.
“The years previous, I didn’t really play in the box that much,” McDuffie recalled. “I was kind of on the line of scrimmage. That year, I got a chance to really be an off-the-ball, inside-the-box inside linebacker. It was my first time really doing it, so it was kind of a learning curve but, at the same time, I felt like they coached me up to a point where I got really comfortable after camp and everything. So, things were just kind of rolling, and I got a lot of opportunities to make plays.”