GREEN BAY – Three months after being hired as the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator, Jonathan Gannon made his long-awaited debut with local media May 4. Here are some quick observations of Gannon’s initial public comments in the new role.
Jonathan Gannon shares why Packers job was attractive
Gannon did not know coach Matt LaFleur well when he interviewed for the defensive coordinator vacancy in Green Bay. By the time his plane landed back home, he wanted the next stop in his career to be with the Packers.
“We talked a lot of football,” Gannon said of his interview. “We talked a lot about just the process of how we wanted to move forward, how you’re going to hire people, those kind of things. So a lot of topics, moving fast. I think Matt is a savant, so he can go from topic to topic to topic, and you’ve got to be pretty wired up or you’ll fall behind pretty quick. So it was intense.
“I was sweating. I was in a coat and tie, I think I was sweating a little bit. But it was fun. It was fun. I got home off the plane, and I told my wife, Jeana, I think this is where I want to go.”
Gannon said he met LaFleur, president Ed Policy, general manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president/director of football Russ Ball during his day-and-a-half interview in Green Bay. He also encountered Micah Parsons in the football facility while the three-time All-Pro was rehabbing from his torn ACL. Staged or not, meeting Parsons had to be quite a draw.
LaFleur was complimentary of Gannon’s defense before the Packers traveled to play the Arizona Cardinals last October. It was his third time in three years preparing his offense to play a Gannon defense. Beyond film, they had not crossed paths in their careers, but Gannon said LaFleur and the Packers were an attractive place for him to work.
“Personally, I think when you look at the organization, the people that are in the organization – so the place, the people, and then our players,” Gannon said. “Having competed against them last year, the people on defense, and not just the people on defense – the people on offense. This is a good crew on offense having to try to defend them for a couple different years, but Jordan Love. That was a huge thing for me. I think he’s in the top tier. So if you’ve got those things right, you probably have a chance to win.”
Why Jonathan Gannon didn’t carry set scheme to Packers defense
When Gannon interviewed with LaFleur, he repeated a philosophy he’s carried since his days as the Philadelphia Eagles coordinator.
Back in 2021, Gannon told Eagles coach Nick Sirianni he didn’t have a specific scheme for the new defense. Rather, he planned to build his scheme around the strengths of his players. Gannon’s approach did not change when he became the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
“He probably laughed,” Gannon said of Sirianni, “and said, ‘You better get one.’”
Five years later, Gannon hasn’t settled into one scheme. He let LaFleur know the same before being hired as the Packers coordinator.
“The point is the game adapts,” Gannon said. “I don’t really get caught up in the 4-3, 3-4. We’re an NFL-style defense, hopefully. I just believe you’ve got to continually, every year, try to adapt and solve problems, and really with your guys in mind. So this is a whole new crew for me that we’re just getting to learn, all new different players, so that’s kind of what I mean by that.
“Yeah, there’s some principles, there’s some things I like to do – but it’s only if our players can do it. I told them the other day, if we’re not good at this, just because I like it, we’re not going to do it.”
Gannon said his belief in not having a specific scheme meant waiting until after meeting with players before he started to develop the Packers defensive playbook. He expects to build the playbook over time, pulling from many different places.
“I told the players this,” Gannon said, “I said, ‘This is going to be a little different for them.’ Because as we’re teaching them things, they’re going to see tape of Philly, Minnesota, Arizona, Green Bay, San Francisco, Buffalo, Alabama, Georgia. I don’t really get caught up in, if you said, ‘This is my playbook, here’s what we’re going to run,’ what I said to you guys earlier is full of you-know-what. Because you’re really not adapting your scheme to the players you have. This is just what we do. Well, if this guy can’t do that, what are you going to do? We’re just going to do that. That doesn’t make sense to me.
“So it really is the truth when I tell you guys this is going to be a new system this year. It’s the 2026 Green Bay Packers.”
Even though the 2026 Packers will have a new coordinator, the philosophy appears similar to how predecessor Jeff Hafley approached the job. Gannon echoed Hafley in stressing play style over scheme.
“Before scheme,” Gannon said, “I truly believe it’s not what you play, it’s how you play. That goes into, Matt calls it play style. I love that. So that’s been cool for our guys defining that for them, here’s your expectation, here’s what you’re accountable for. We’re all accountable for it. Because I think that’s what a good defense looks like, a fast, violent, physical team that’s taking the ball away.”
Jonathan Gannon hopes to put lessons from Cardinals tenure into practice
LaFleur, who calls plays on offense, has long preferred his defensive coordinator to be a de facto head coach of the defense. The hands-off style has had mixed results over the years, but it helped enable Jeff Hafley to become the Miami Dolphins head coach after only two seasons.
Gannon will have a similar chance to revitalize his career after three losing seasons with the Cardinals, but LaFleur has said his defensive coordinator’s experience as an NFL head coach was appealing.
“Matt is really collaborative,” Gannon said. “Obviously, he’s been in this seat for a long time, so he understands how to do his job at a high level. But he’ll bounce some things off of me, and I always tell him, ‘I’m not going to give you my opinion unless you ask for my opinion about certain things.’ And it’s been really cool, but Matt likes to know the why. He likes to ask questions. He likes to study. He likes to go outside what is real comfortable for him and learn other things.”
Gannon said he remained grateful for being the Cardinals head coach, even if it led to a 15-36 record in three seasons. The Cardinals defense twice finished in the NFL’s bottom five in scoring, but he also coordinated the Eagles defense in a Super Bowl during the 2022 season.
Without sharing specifics from what he learned from his time with the Cardinals, Gannon said his message to players after being hired was a similar sentiment for himself.
“I’m not a huge rah-rah, speech, video guy,” Gannon said. “That’s kind of not my style, but there’s a quote I showed them when we were talking about the player-development plans, the one to two things each guy can do to get a little bit better. There’s a quote, and I don’t even know where I got it from, but I kind of quote certain things or keep certain things written down, but you are under no obligation to be the person you were five minutes ago.
“And I said it for the players, but it’s for us, too. And what that’s basically saying is grow, adapt and get better.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Jonathan Gannon knew quickly he wanted to be Packers defensive coordinator
Reporting by Ryan Wood, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Packers News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
