"He knows the game, to me, better than anyone I know.”
Defensive back Taron Johnson had strong words about his former defensive coordinator, who is now Green Bay’s new defensive pass game coordinator and secondary coach. 42-year-old Bobby Babich will assume the roles previously held by Ryan Downard and Derrick Ansley. Babich was the Buffalo Bills’ defensive coordinator the last two seasons. He also coached defensive backs, safeties, and linebackers during his time in Buffalo.
The Packers have undergone a massive overhaul of their defensive coaching staff since the season ended. They were forced to find a new defensive coordinator after Jeff Hafley landed a head coaching job in Miami. Hafley also brought several assistants from Green Bay to Miami, including Downard. Head coach Matt LaFleur didn’t waste any time in hiring Babich to replace him.
There are plenty of people who would've been excited if Babich were the new defensive coordinator, so the fact that they were able to add him as an assistant seems like a win. He comes to Green Bay with over 20 years of coaching experience, including 14 at the NFL level, with a vast majority as a defensive backs coach. The Packers first interviewed Babich back in 2024 for their vacant defensive coordinator position. LaFleur chose to hire Hafley, but Babich ended up becoming the defensive coordinator in Buffalo anyway. Babich’s defensive coordinator experience and wealth of knowledge coaching defensive backs will be a huge asset to Green Bay’s new defensive coaching staff.
The Packers are hiring Bobby Babich, the former Bills DC. Source said he's replacing Ryan Downard and he will have the defensive passing game coordinator title.
Matt LaFleur interviewed Babich for the Packers DC job the last time before hiring Hafley. https://t.co/2V1iXrr4Ch
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) January 28, 2026
Coaching seemed like an inevitable profession for Bobby Babich. Being the son of a coach, Bobby grew up surrounded by football. His father, Bob Babich, coached at both the college and NFL levels for nearly 40 years. “It cemented what I wanted to do,” Babich shared. “I was around it, and I loved it. I was never pushed to love it. I just kind of fell in love with the game. I knew I wanted to be involved in football at a very young age. I knew I wanted to be involved in this sport in some way.”
Bobby attended high school in Fargo, North Dakota, playing football and running track. He was a first-team all-state football player, and then went on to play cornerback at North Dakota State University (NDSU) from 2002 to 2005. Babich immediately jumped into coaching after his playing career ended, becoming a graduate assistant at Kent State University. Babich then spent four years as the secondary coach for Eastern Illinois University before making his jump to the NFL in 2011. Ron Rivera hired Babich as an administrative assistant for the coaching staff, but promoted him to a defensive assistant role a year later.
In 2013, Babich was hired by the Cleveland Browns as the assistant defensive backs coach. Babich ended up coaching with Jeff Hafley and Ryan Downard during his three years in Cleveland. Ironically, those are two of the guys he’s replacing in Green Bay. He also worked with several other notable coaches, including Norv Turner, Shane Steichen, Kyle Shanahan, Mike McDaniel, Chris Tabor, Mike Pettine, Anthony Weaver, and Aaron Glenn. After three losing years in Cleveland, the Browns decided to clean house and bring in a whole new coaching staff, forcing Babich to find a different gig.
Babich returned to the collegiate ranks for one season, but in 2017, he was hired by Sean McDermott to join the Buffalo Bills' defensive staff. It was the first time Babich and his dad coached together. The younger Babich started as an assistant defensive backs coach, but was quickly promoted to safeties coach. He helped Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde become All-Pro safeties and one of the best safety duos in the league. After four years coaching safeties, Babich was then moved to linebackers coach, taking over the job from his father. In that role, Babich helped develop Tremaine Edmunds into a two-time Pro Bowler and Matt Milano into an All-Pro.
During the 2024 coaching cycle, Babich had several defensive coordinator interviews, including one with the Packers. Babich stayed put and became the Bills' defensive coordinator. Babich was widely regarded as a rising, young coach whose players love playing for him. “Bobby’s a good coach. He’s developed players,” head coach Sean McDermott shared. “I think when you evaluate a coach, are you taking what you have and making it better? It doesn’t need to get any more complex than that, and Bobby’s done that.”
pic.twitter.com/3UPZDFSqSC
— Film Collins (@filmcollins01) May 30, 2023
Matt LaFleur and the Packers have had to make many new hires over the last month and a half, but Babich is definitely one of the most exciting. Despite Babich’s extensive experience, he’s still relatively young and known to be very energetic, detail-oriented, and a strong leader. “His juice level is always on 100,000,” defensive back Cam Lewis said. “Just a lot of energy, really...It’s contagious."
Former Packer Micah Hyde had some strong words about his former position coach. “Bobby’s a go-getter. He’s always yelling. High-energy guy, and I think people love that. People love that he’s like that, and he’s always going to bring the juice," Hyde said. "A lot of people joke around and are like, ‘That’s fake juice.’ No, literally, Bobby wakes up every single day, and he’s ready to go, and I think he delivers that to his players, and his players play that same way.”
Linebacker Terrell Bernard offered more of the same when asked about Babich. “Bobby, he’s fiery. I think that’s the word I would use,” Bernard said. “He’s probably one of the most consistent people I’ve ever met in my life. Every day he’s got the same energy—the same juice. I think a lot of guys respect that. It’s hard to come in here and be the same person every single day, and that’s one thing that Bobby is, for sure.”
“I mean, the energy — he’s very passionate about the game, and he’s bringing energy every single day,” defensive back Taron Johnson shared. “And I feel like that’s what we need consistently. And I feel like that will help us make more plays.” The Packers need guys in the building who bring energy and love football. Babich fits that mold.
I reached out to a Buffalo-based sports director to get a few words on what to expect from Bobby Babich. Here is what they said:
“Young, energetic, owns the room when he talks, great teacher, versatile— he’s coached every spot on D except DL, players coach.” pic.twitter.com/fBzZcJfezs
— Matt Froehlich (@Matt_Fra_) January 30, 2026
A fast and physical defense? Most Packer fans would welcome that, and that’s exactly what Babich has preached for the last several seasons. "Years ago, there was a moment where he (McDermott) was like 'We're gonna keep this simple. We're gonna play fast. We're gonna play physical. Let our guys execute,'" Babich said. That mantra stuck and became Babich's trademark.
Babich's goal was for football players to be football players, and he knew that players needed to think less so they could react quicker and play faster. "I'm trying to figure out how to say this in a nice way. We don't really want to think, for real," former Packer Rasul Douglas said. "We just want to hit everything moving. So, when you put it simple, we all can play faster because we ain't gotta think so much."
Physicality was something Babich emphasized as well. One way Babich emphasized physicality was by celebrating it. He became the guy in charge of an award called “Slobber Knocker of the Week,” which started when Babich was a position coach. “Every week that we win, we give out the most physical hit of the game, “Babich said. “It’s really an award that we give out on weeks that we win, obviously we want the game to be clean, legal, and all of those types of things, but we also want to instill that physical style of play.”
Simple. Fast. Physical. There were plenty of times throughout the 2025 season when Green Bay’s defense lacked all three of those things. They weren't physical, they were slow, and they looked out of sorts. It was especially bad at the cornerback position. There were plenty of moments caught on camera of Green Bay defensive backs avoiding contact at all costs, most notably Keisean Nixon's business decision at the goal line of the Wild Card game and Carrington Valentine being thrown into the third row of the stands by a Derrick Henry stiff arm. Now they both have a position coach whose whole focus is on those three things.
The Bills coaching staff has done a great job of developing young linebackers.
Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich has some interesting insight on what's gone right. pic.twitter.com/k2pcuPgZk1
— Josh Reed (@4JoshReed) August 21, 2024
Babich brings more than just energy. He is also incredibly smart and detailed, something that Green Bay’s secondary can definitely benefit from. "He's very detail-oriented,” Cam Lewis shared. “So just bringing that juice factor into it and his football IQ is the highest that I've seen in any of the coaches that I've been a part of or been with."
Babich is tasked with leading a position group that includes Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, Javon Bullard, Keisean Nixon, Nate Hobbs, and Carrington Valentine. McKinney and Williams can make any position coach look good, but Babich’s main challenge will be elevating the performance of Green Bay’s cornerback group. Babich seems like the right guy for the job.
“Very detailed each and every day. When the game plan’s put in place, he knows the defense better than anybody in this building,” Micah Hyde shared. “He’s very detailed in giving it in his delivery. Even in practice and watching film, he’s very detail-oriented in where you should be, where your alignment is, what your assignment is, and from there you’re able to make plays.”
Babich’s former players have spoken glowingly about him over the years. Babich was already an up-and-coming coach that many teams were interested in when Matt LaFleur interviewed him for the first time, but now he's even more experienced and has grown as a leader. Time will tell if Babich was the right person to elevate Green Bay’s secondary, but there’s a lot to be excited about. Linebacker Tyrel Dodson went so far as to say, "Best coach I’ve ever had, hands down.”