Packers Fire Defensive Coach After Season-Ending Loss to Eagles

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Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.

The Green Bay Packers have fired defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich in the aftermath of their NFC wild-card playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

“We appreciate Jason for his hard work and contributions to the organization over the past few seasons,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said in a statement on January 16. “We wish all the best to him, Trish and their family in the future.”

Rebrovich spent the past three seasons working on head coach Matt LaFleur’s coaching staff in roles that changed annually. He started as the outside linebacker coach in 2022, but the Packers changed his title to pass rush specialist in 2023 before moving him to defensive line coach this season in Jeff Hafley’s first season as defensive coordinator.

After an offseason of high expectations, though, Rebrovich’s defensive line struggled to quickly and efficiently pressure opposing quarterbacks despite finishing tied for eighth in the NFL with 45 sacks as a team. The Packers struggled to win on four-man rushes, forcing Hafley to get creative in the later parts of the season and raising questions about why a defensive line with four first-round picks starting struggled to generate pressure.

Some of the problems likely originated from the Packers switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3 base defense under Hafley in 2024 and forcing players to adjust to the differences, but the Packers ultimately felt Rebrovich shouldered enough of the blame to dismiss him.

The Packers will now head into the 2025 NFL offseason looking for a fresh face to coach their defensive line — perhaps one who is more attuned to Hafley’s style of defense.

Packers Also Lose QB Coach Tom Clements to Retirement

The Packers will also need to find a new quarterbacks coach before the 2025 season after 71-year-old veteran Tom Clements — who worked with Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love — announced his (second) retirement from the NFL on January 14.

Clements played an instrumental role in the development of Rodgers, a four-time MVP who built a strong relationship with Clements working with him from 2006 until 2016. Clements left Green Bay when his contract expired at the end of the 2016 season and later took the offensive coordinator job with the Arizona Cardinals in 2019, working with No. 1 pick Kyler Murray before retiring for the first time in January 2021.

Roughly 13 months later, Rodgers insisted Clements return as the Packers quarterbacks coach after Matt LaFleur’s staff lost Luke Getsy to the Chicago Bears. LaFleur obliged and hired Clements, who worked the next season with Rodgers before the team traded him to the New York Jets. He also stayed on to work with Love for the next two years.

With Clements now retiring, though, the Packers must find a new quarterback guru to help oversee Love’s development as their franchise quarterback. They could potentially circle back to Getsy, who held an advisory role with the team’s defense in January. He did work behind the scenes with Love when he backed up Rodgers in 2020 and 2021.

Packers Will Interview Jets DL Coach for Vacant Job

The Packers may have just dismissed Rebrovich from his post, but they are not wasting time in their search to find his replacement. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, they will interview former Jets defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton for the position.

Whitecotton spent the past four seasons with the Jets overseeing consistently strong defensive line units and playing key roles in the developments of Quinnen Williams, Jermaine Johnson and John Franklin-Myers as pass rushers. His unit also helped the Jets defense finish with the third-fewest total yards allowed (313.8) in the NFL in 2024.

The Packers should also have some inside intel on Whitecotton given the connections between LaFleur and former Jets head coach Robert Saleh, who hired Rebrovich as his assistant defensive line coach in San Francisco and brought him with him to the Jets when he took the job in 2021. Like Getsy, Saleh also worked with the Packers in an advisory role in 2024, which would have given him plenty of time to plug his guy.

Jordan J. Wilson is a sports reporter who covers the NFL and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. He has previously covered all levels of sports — high school, college and pro — for a variety of publications including The Indianapolis Star, The News-Gazette, Springfield State-Journal Register and Peoria Journal Star. More about Jordan J. Wilson