Tag: Joe Barry

Former Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry lands in Miami with Dolphins

Joe Barry, the ex-Packers defensive coordinator, is headed to Miami to be the Dolphins LB coach and run game coordinator.

Joe Barry will go from the hotseat of a top coordinator job on the Frozen Tundra to a more familiar assistant role along the sunny shores of South Beach. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the former Packers defensive coordinator is headed to Miami to become the Dolphins linebackers coach and run game coordinator.

Barry was let go by coach Matt LaFleur after the 2023 season, ending a three-year run in Green Bay. He was replaced by Jeff Hafley, the former head coach of Boston College.

Barry gets a return to being a linebackers coach, a role he’s served in at seven previous coaching jobs in the collegiate and professional ranks. In Miami, Barry will work under new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, who was hired from Baltimore, and head coach Mike McDaniel, who represents another branch of the Shanahan coaching tree.

The Dolphins went 11-5 but lost in the wildcard round of the AFC playoffs. McDaniels’ team finished the year on the three-game losing streak.

Barry, 53, will also get to coordinate the run game for the Dolphins. The Packers gave up the 28th most rushing yards in 2023 and the 26th most rushing yards in 2022 under Barry. The Packers ranked 10th, 13th and 10th in points allowed during Barry’s three seasons.

Dolphins to hire former Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry as LB coach/run game coordinator

Miami hiring former Packers DC to run the LB room.

The Miami Dolphins are continuing to build out their coaching staff after parting ways with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and hiring Anthony Weaver to replace him.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Dolphins are hiring former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry as their linebackers coach and run game coordinator.

Barry, 53, served as defensive coordinator for Green Bay from 2021 until his firing last month. Prior to that, he worked with the Los Angeles Rams, Washington Commanders, San Diego Chargers and USC since 2010.

Anthony Campanile has served as Miami’s linebackers coach since 2020, but after being passed over for defensive coordinator twice in two years, it looks like he’ll no longer be in that role. The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson and Daniel Oyefusi have reported that Campnile won’t return to the team.

Cowboys DL coach Aden Durde targeted by 3 NFC teams for interviews

From @ToddBrock24f7 and @ArmyChiefW3: Durde came to Dallas in ’21 but has additional years with Dan Quinn under his belt. He’s also worked with new Falcons HC Raheem Morris.

Per multiple sources, the Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons, and Green Bay Packers have requested permission to speak with Dallas Cowboys defensive line coach Aden Durde in regards to their staff openings. Durde, 44, began his NFL coaching career as an intern for the Cowboys in 2014. He returned to Dallas as their defensive line coach under defensive coordinator Dan Quinn in 2021, whom he worked with in Atlanta.

Durde’s defensive line created problems across the league and his unit was amongst the highest-rated in many pass-rushing metrics. Durde helped develop Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons and interior defensive lineman Osa Odigizuwa.

Considered for some time to be an up-and-comer within the coaching ranks, the English-born Durde participated in the league’s Coach Accelerator Program last spring. The two-year-old program was designed to give young assistant coaches of color personal exposure to NFL owners and has been reserved for staffers their nominating teams believe to be rising stars of the coaching world.

Durde has history with the newly-named Falcons head coach. Raheem Morris was the team’s wide receivers coach when Durde arrived in Atlanta as a quality control coach on the defensive side. Durde was promoted to outside linebackers coach for the 2020 season, when Morris took over as Atlanta’s defensive coordinator and then ultimately transitioned to interim head coach when Quinn was fired five weeks into the season.

The Rams are seeking a new defensive coordinator to replace Morris in L.A., but are also said to be looking at ex-Chargers coach Brandon Staley.

The Packers are seeking a replacement at DC as well after this week’s firing of Joe Barry.

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Given Durde’s long history with Quinn, it’s also conceivable that he may follow Quinn to either Seattle or Washington, should Quinn be the head coach hire.

And then, of course, if Quinn leaves, it also leaves Dallas with a DC opening. It’s all part of the head-spinning shell game known as the coaching hiring cycle, and now Durde’s name looks to be firmly in the mix, too.

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Former Packers’ DC Joe Barry to interview with Eagles for LB coach position

The Philadelphia Eagles are interviewing former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator for their vacant linebackers coach job

The Eagles have reportedly hired Vic Fangio to replace the fired Sean Desai as defensive coordinator, and they’ve started filling out his coaching staff.

According to Jane Slater, former Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry will interview for the position of linebackers coach.

In 2022, the Packers dropped from ninth overall in total defense to 17th under Barry. Green Bay also finished 17th in total defense this season but climbed into the top 10 in fewest points allowed.

The primary issue for Barry’s Packers was a poor run defense. Green Bay was ranked 28th against the run in 2023, down from 26th in 2022 after finishing 11th in 2021.

Barry’s unit allowed four teams to rush for more than 200 yards against them in 2023.

Quick thoughts on Packers firing defensive coordinator Joe Barry

A few quick thoughts on the Packers firing defensive coordinator Joe Barry to start the 2024 offseason.

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.

Writing was on the wall for Packers moving on from Joe Barry

The Packers are moving on from defensive coordinator Joe Barry.

The writing was on the wall for Joe Barry.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers made the decision to part ways with Barry on Wednesday.

Given how LaFleur’s season-ending press conference played out on Monday, it felt like this was the path that the Packers were going to go down.

LaFleur began the press conference by trying to get in front of questions, letting the media know that he still hadn’t met with his coaching staff. LaFleur would also heap praise on to other coaches like Adam Stenavich and Tom Clements, while not mentioning Barry’s name.

Then via an open-ended question that provided LaFleur the opportunity to give Barry credit for how the defense performed at the end of the season, he again didn’t mention Barry’s name, and responded with “all the above,” referencing the play of the defenders and the scheme as the reason why.

The Packers defense began to turn things around following the team’s Week 16 performance against Carolina, where they were picked apart by Bryce Young. This also coincides with when LaFleur said he was going to take on a larger role on the defensive side of the ball.

In these last few games, the Packers saw better communication as well as a different approach from the defense as a whole, which included more blitzing from different defenders, a variety of coverage looks, and different alignments along the defensive front.

How much LaFleur had a factor in all of that we will never know, but the timing of it all says that he played a somewhat significant role. And if that’s the case, that means the trust was gone, and at that point, a move had to be made.

Throughout Barry’s tenure, there were stretches of solid football from this defense, but nothing that ever lasted. His general approach was passive and there appeared to be a disconnect between what Barry wanted and the execution of it on the field. Somewhere along the line, whether it was from Barry to his assistant coaches, the assistant coaches to the players, there was a breakdown, which ultimately resulted in poor play.

After three years as defensive coordinator, two very important questions couldn’t be answered: What does this unit consistently do well and who has significantly improved under Barry? By DVOA, Barry’s defenses had finished in the bottom third in the NFL all three seasons.

The Packers find themselves on the cusp of being in a Super Bowl window. As we saw against San Francisco, the margin for error is very small, so getting even incrementally better from a game-planning standpoint, a coaching standpoint, and an execution standpoint and having those elements build off each other over an entire season could be the difference between a win and a loss in January.

As far as who the next defensive coordinator will be for the Packers, that remains to be seen. My hope is that we see LaFleur bring in a different style of defense. Barry was asked to run the Vic Fangio-style system because that’s what LaFleur wanted. But if you look around the NFL, those types of defenses largely aren’t finding consistent success. Instead, it’s the defensive units that are causing chaos around the line of scrimmage.

I also believe there is value in having different thoughts and ideas within the building around offensive and defensive philosophies. That is often when true growth and innovation occurs.

Packers parting ways with defensive coordinator Joe Barry

The Packers are making a change at defensive coordinator: Joe Barry is out.

Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers are making a big change on the defensive side of the ball to start the 2024 offseason.

According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Packers decided that Joe Barry will not return as the Packers defensive coordinator next season.

LaFleur wasn’t ready to make a decision as of Monday but has since met with the entire coaching staff.

Barry, who took over for Mike Pettine, spent three years in the job between 2021 and 2023. While the Packers defense had impressive stretches and even finished in the top 10 for scoring in 2023, the unit was marred in inconsistency throughout the last three seasons.

By DVOA, the Packers ranked 27th on defense in 2023, 25th in 2022 and 12th in 2021, so Barry clearly had his group trending in the wrong direction.

LaFleur’s next hire will be a critical one. The Packers have talent at each level of the defense and now need a coordinator who can better accentuate strengths and hide weaknesses. Several experienced defensive coaches are available as of Wednesday.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur not yet ready to make final decision on Joe Barry’s future

Packers coach Matt LaFleur wants to go through the process before making a final decision on Joe Barry’s future as the defensive coordinator.

Matt LaFleur met with the media Monday morning to close out the 2023 season. Before the first question could be asked, in his opening comments, LaFleur let it be known that no decision was made about Joe Barry’s future with the Green Bay Packers.

In fact, the process that is involved in making that decision hadn’t yet begun.

“I know there’s going to be a lot of long-term, big picture questions,” said LaFleur. “I’m not there yet, fellas. We’re just, like I said, we’re just starting the process. I gave everybody off yesterday. I came in yesterday and watched the tape, all three phases, but we’re just getting into the evaluation portion right now.

“So, probably not going to have many answers for you guys, haven’t met with any of our coaches yet. That’ll start this afternoon.”

From Week 17 on, the Packers defense did make improvements. However, that also coincides with when LaFleur said he needed to be more “present,” as he put it, on that side of the ball.

It’s not only in those final games that we saw improved play by the defense, but we also saw different approaches from the Packers. There was less rigidity in sticking with their standard shell defense.

At various times, the Packers would not only blitz more but with multiple or different players, like Keisean Nixon. The Packers utilized different fronts, including Karl Brooks at defensive end and Lukas Van Ness with his hand in the dirt. There was also a heavy dose of disguised coverages against Dallas, and overall, the communication was much improved.

So how much of that was Barry, and how much of that was LaFleur? We can only guess and will probably never know the answer.

“I think it was all the above,” said LaFleur when asked whether it was scheme or better play that led to the improvement. “That’s going to be part of the conversation.”

How much LaFleur was involved in the game plan to end the season is going to be a huge factor in the decision. If he was even somewhat heavily involved, then it’s simply time to find a new defensive coordinator.

As the head coach, there needs to be trust that the coordinators can put together a well-crafted game plan and get the position coaches to buy into it so they can help get the players to execute on it. If that trust isn’t there, then it’s time to move on.

The amount of time in the day is also a factor. If LaFleur was more involved with the defense over the last five games, can that be sustained over the course of an entire season? My guess is no, which, again, would be another reason to move on.

Matt Schneidman of The Athletic reported that Barry is under contract for the 2024 season, meaning that the team would have to fire him rather than simply moving on if his contract were up.

The Packers laid a solid foundation in 2023 and have a tremendous jumping-off point heading into 2024, where a new contention window could be wide open. Anywhere that the team can get incrementally better to maximize the potential opportunity ahead needs to be made.

Looking back at the loss to San Francisco, we all saw how small the margin for error is in the playoffs. One play here or there is the difference between a win and a loss.

If the Packers feel they can get even four percent better on defense, what does that look like over the course of the season when those incremental improvements to the game plan, or how things are taught or the execution build upon each other? Does Saturday’s loss become a win?

As far as when a decision – either way – will be made, LaFleur said he will go through the process at “his own pace.” For what it’s worth, it was about a full week after the season ended that he moved on from special teams coordinators Shawn Mennenga and Maurice Drayton.

We are probably still too close to Saturday’s loss for a decision of this magnitude to be made. As LaFleur said Monday, the disappointment still stings. Ultimately, this decision shouldn’t come down to the Packers’ performance against the 49ers or even how the last month-plus of the season ended. There is a body of work of three seasons for LaFleur to evaluate.

“Like I said,” added LaFleur, “that’s going to be the next step, is to kind of go through and figure out how we can be a little bit more consistent. And it’s not just on defense. It’s in every phase, right?

“We certainly had our moments on teams and on offense as well where there was, there’s always going to be moments of struggle, but how can we be a little bit more consistent. Looking at what we do well. How can we best put our players in position to have success and that’s going to be part of this next process.”

Cowboys’ defense never stood a chance against Matt LaFleur, Jordan Love, and Aaron Jones

The Dallas Cowboys had no chance against the Green Bay Packers, and that story was told before the two teams even hit the field.

We’re sure that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will want to investigate how and why his high-priced, Mike McCarthy-led offense made the Green Bay Packers’ defense, led by embattled defensive coordinator Joe Barry, look like the ’85 Chicago Bears when it mattered in Dallas’ humiliating 48-32 wild-card loss. But the real issue causing Dallas’ early exit from the postseason was that the Cowboys’ defense, led by highly-regarded coordinator Dan Quinn, never had a puncher’s chance against Packers head coach Matt LaFleur’s offense.

Coming into this game, the Cowboys had played the third-highest rate of man coverage (39.4%), behind only the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. And against man coverage in the regular season, Packers quarterback Jordan Love had completed 61 of 128 attempts for 788 yards, 581 air yards, a league-high 12 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 92.2. Also, the Cowboys played the second-highest rate of single-high coverage in the regular season (64.9%), behind only the Cleveland Browns (65.4%). And against single-high coverage this season, Love has completed 100 of 155 passes for 1,253 yards, 776 air yards, eight touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 104.0.

So, the Cowboys tried to play a bit more zone against the Packers, to little avail, but this was a clear case of a miserable matchup in which Dallas’ opposing quarterback was ready to demolish everything the Cowboys threw at him. And at that point, it mattered little that the Cowboys came into this game with the fifth-best Defensive DVOA.

The absolute nadir of Dallas’ defensive approach in this beatdown was Love’s 38-yard touchdown with 1:27 left in the third quarter. The game was already 34-16 in Green Bay’s favor, and though the Cowboys did their best to come back against the Packers’ backups, that was pretty much it.

As we always like to say here at Touchdown Wire, don’t play man if you can’t play man.

The second part of Dallas’ defensive breakdown was what running back Aaron Jones was able to do to them, and this was even more predictable. The Cowboys under Quinn feature a ton of big nickel and dime defense, which means that the guys up front, generally in four-man fronts, had best be able to hold up. That hasn’t happened with consistency since defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 14 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Hankins was back on the field for this game, but it didn’t matter, and it didn’t matter because Jones had been among the NFL’s best running backs in the last few weeks of the regular season.

Well, Jones finished this game with 119 carries and three touchdowns on 21 carries.

Similarly to the Browns’ inability to adjust to the things about their defense that C.J. Stroud was obviously set up to tear apart, the Cowboys had no answers for the Packers, because the Packers were designed as if to specifically demolish everything Dan Quinn loves.

Browns’ refusal to adapt on defense cost them dearly against C.J. Stroud

At a certain point, you just have to tip your hat and move on to next season.

Stock up, stock down in 33-10 loss vs. Packers

Plenty of stocks fell, while others went up during the 33-10 loss against the Packers.

Flat. Unprepared. Disappointing.

The Green Bay Packers came into U.S. Bank Stadium and kicked the Minnesota Vikings’ playoff hopes into a ravine by a score of 33-10.

There are usually a few positives that can be found in even the worst of performances from this season. Not this one. This was bad from beginning to end.

The defense looked unprepared for the Packers’ game plan and wasn’t able to adapt. The offense looked as disjointed as they have this season after the Kirk Cousins injury.

While searching for any semblance of a positive, there will be plenty of negatives to point out from an overall perspective.