The Green Bay Packers made the shocking decision on Wednesday to fire defensive coordinator Joe Barry. Even though the defense played well in the final two weeks of the season and for most of the team’s playoff games, their performances were not enough to erase the last three years of underachievement. Now, head coach Matt LaFleur will be looking for his third defensive coordinator in six years.
Firing Barry was a move that was celebrated by the Packers’ fanbase, which had never been happy with his hiring in the first place. As many remember, Jim Leonhard, then the defensive coordinator of the Wisconsin Badgers, was offered the job, but turned it down to stay in Madison. Leonhard is now a senior analyst at Illinois.
Leonhard, of course, is a popular name among fans for who the Packers could hire to replace Barry. The situation, after all, is different. Additionally, some fans have suggested former Packers cornerback Al Harris as a potential candidate. Harris is currently the defensive backs coach for the Dallas Cowboys.
Obviously, LaFleur and company will do their due diligence and interview many qualified candidates. Indeed, it is vital to the success of this team (and maybe even LaFleur’s job) for him to get this hire right. However, it sounds like the team may not be completely done with Barry despite his firing.
In his insider reporting of Barry’s firing, Rob Demovsky, who covers the Packers for ESPN, shared an interesting piece of information from Adam Schefter:
