The Green Bay Packers are firing defensive coordinator Joe Barry to start the 2024 offseason, meaning Matt LaFleur will go into next season with a new leader of his defense.
LaFleur announced the decision on Wednesday.
The change at defensive coordinator is LaFleur’s first big decision of the offseason and one that could define the trajectory of next year’s Packers team.
Here are a few quick thoughts on the firing:
— It was time. This was a necessary and possibly overdue change. The Packers poured resources into the defense but rarely got return on the investment. Barry’s defenses were inconsistent and often too passive. By DVOA, the Packers were 25th on defense in 2022 and 27th in 2023.
— The need for improvement is strong, and this was the right time. The Packers are ascending as a team overall, but the defense was trending in the wrong direction. Making a change now provides an opportunity for the Packers to start improving in 2024 as the window for LaFleur’s team to be a contender opens up.
— LaFleur must get this hire right. His track record isn’t strong. He’s going on his third defensive coordinator, and it took LaFleur three special teams coordinator hires to create any kind of improvement. The right coordinator could make a huge difference — the Packers need a leader who can ignite and unite the talent on defense.
— The Packers need an identity on defense. Aggressive, multiple, whatever term you’d like. Barry’s defenses tried to take away the big play and bend-but-don’t-break, but the consistency of the identity never materialized. The Packers need something they do really well on defense starting in 2024.
— This should be an attractive job opening. The Packers have stability at head coach, an ascending quarterback and a young team that was just minutes away from upsetting the 49ers in the postseason. Also, there are first-round picks all over the defense, and Brian Gutekunst will likely pour more resources into that side of the ball this offseason. Defensive coordinator candidates should see this as a job with obvious improvement potential and obvious contender potential.
— The pool of experienced defensive coordinator candidates at this point is deep, and you’d have to think all the options to improve pushed LaFleur to making the change.
— LaFleur needs to let his next coordinator make most if not all of the staffing decisions on defense. Barry and even Mike Pettine had holdovers from previous staffs. Let the next coordinator to build the assistant staff the way he wants.
— You’re only as good as your weakest link on defense, so Gutekunst and the Packers do need to get better overall for the next coordinator. There are holes at safety and cornerback and maybe even inside linebacker, and the Packers must make a few decisions on veterans with big cap numbers. The base of talent is good, but the Packers had too many personnel holes in the starting 11 on defense in 2023.