5 things to know about new Boston College football coach Jeff Hafley
Hafley has a connection to Richard Sherman and Darrelle Revis.
Boston College found its replacement for Steve Addazio on Saturday by hiring Ohio State assistant Jeff Hafley to become the program’s next head football coach.
This will be Hafley’s first head coaching job, but the 40-year old has plenty of top-notch coaching experience as an assistant at Power 5 schools and in the NFL.
Here are five things to know about Hafley as he takes over the Boston College program.
Hafley led a dominant Ohio State defense this season.
In his lone season as Ohio State co-defensive coordinator, Hafley helped the Buckeyes become one of the top defensive units in the country. Ohio State finished the regular season allowing the second fewest points per game (12.5) and yards per game (247.6) in the nation. In 2018, the season before Hafley arrived in Columbus, the Buckeyes allowed 25.7 points per game 400.3 yards per game.
Under Hafley, the Ohio State defense allowed 20-plus points just four times during the regular season en route to a 13-0 record and the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff.
Before Ohio State, he spent seven seasons in the NFL.
Hafley played wide receiver in college at Siena, but as a coach, he specializes with defensive backs. From 2012-2018, Hafley coached defensive backs in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, and San Francisco 49ers.
After he spent the 2011 season at Rutgers with defensive-minded coach Greg Schiano, Hafley followed Schiano to Tampa Bay before stops with the Browns under Mike Pettine, and the 49ers under Chip Kelly and Kyle Shanahan.
In an interview with the 49ers Insiders Podcast in 2018, Hafley discussed the wide variety of defenses he’s worked with throughout his career.
“They are very different. When you first start, it’s hard, because it’s staying up late at night studying, so I can learn it well enough to teach it. But from Coach Schiano in Tampa, to Mike Pettine, to that whole Rex Ryan system, very different … So I’ve been in different systems all along the way. You know at times it’s like, ‘Man I wish I had three years in the same system,’ but now I’ve kind of formulated my own thoughts and my own ideas, and I think down the road it’s going to help me.”
Richard Sherman had high praise for Hafley.
Hafley coached Sherman when he was with the 49ers in 2018, and the three-time First Team All-Pro cornerback thought highly of him. Sherman said Hafley was one of the best defensive back coaches he’s ever had, lauding his preparation.
“His preparation is some of the best I’ve seen,” said Sherman. “I’ve had some great defensive back coaches, some great defensive coaches and defensive minds. He is right up there with his preparation and how he breaks down film … how easy and simple he makes the game plan sound and how easy he makes it for guys to understand. He paints a very vivid picture of what you are going to see, and [then] it’s all about execution.”
Hafley helped develop Darrelle Revis in college.
Hafley spent five seasons (2006-2010) as defensive backs coach at the University of Pittsburgh, where he coached Revis. Under Hafley’s tutelage, Revis had a breakout campaign in 2006, when he was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award before becoming one of the best cornerbacks in NFL history.
Congrats to Jeff Hafley on the BC job. Once upon a time he was my DB coach at Pitt!!!
— Darrelle Revis (@Revis24) December 14, 2019
He’s coached football in Massachusetts before.
This won’t be Hafley’s first time coaching in the Bay State. Fresh out of college, Hafley was the running backs coach for Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in 2001. He spent one season with the Engineers and then went to graduate school at the University at Albany, where he was an assistant for three seasons.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com