Good friends Jeff Hafley vs. Kevin O’Connell

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Kevin O’Connell was not yet 30 years old in 2015 when he got his first NFL coaching job as the quarterbacks coach of the Cleveland Browns.

The 36-year-old defensive backs coach of the Browns was Jeff Hafley.

On Sunday, O’Connell will lead his Minnesota Vikings to Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers. O’Connell is the head coach and offensive play-caller for the undefeated Vikings. Hafley is the defensive coordinator for the one-loss Packers.

“From the first day I met him, we hit it off,” O’Connell told reporters in Minneapolis this week. “I really respect him as much as anyone in this league, and a very smart hire by Matt (LaFleur) to get him in there. You can see it, it’s all over the tape. They play really good defense.”

Ten years ago they lived right across the street from each other in Cleveland.

“His wife, Leah, and my wife, Gina, we hung out a lot,” Hafley said Thursday. “We really clicked. Great, great person. It was his first year as a coach because he had just finished playing, and you could tell right away (that he was going to be a successful coach).

“The way he carried himself, just a special man, a man of integrity, first class in everything he does, the way he approaches people. He’s a guy I bet on early on and I said I would pick that guy as head coach pretty quickly. He has that aura about him.”

Hafley and O’Connell spent the 2015 season together and then moved to San Francisco in 2016 before going their separate ways.

In 2019, O’Connell got his first big opportunity as an offensive coordinator in Washington. He then served as Sean McVay’s offensive coordinator with the Rams in 2020 and 2021 before being hired by the Vikings in 2022.

In 2019, Hafley also got his first big opportunity as defensive coordinator at Ohio State. After one season with the Buckeyes, he spent the past four years as head coach at Boston College.

Through it all they remained close.

‘He’s smart. We spent a lot of time talking about football, offense and defense,” Hafley said. “Our families went on vacation and just got to know him really well. He has a wonderful family. He’s a very good football coach, but he’s even a better person. So yeah, a good friend of mine.

O’Connell said: “I think the world depends on him as a person.”

While Jordan Love’s potential return to the lineup against a dominant Viking defense and Aaron Jones’ return to Lambeau Field are the main storylines this week, Hafley’s defense against O’Connell’s offense is just as intriguing.

Sam Darnold, a former first-round bust, has revived his career and enters Sunday’s game second in passer rating. The Vikings are third in the points tally. Green Bay’s defense ranks 12th in points allowed, in part because it is No. 1 in interception percentage and No. 6 in third.

As always, it is the players, and not the X and O, who determine the outcome of the game. But O’Connell and Hafley know each other well and have had the week to prepare for this crucial NFC North game.

“I think the plan is really good,” Hafley said. “They are very good with the ball, very good. And then his passing game, it’s not just the players, I think it’s the plan too, and then he’s got really good players as well.

Hafley said Justin Jefferson is “probably the best wide receiver in the league” and fellow receiver Jordan Addison has “special” talent. The signing of Jones added the run-game dynamic that the Vikings lacked last year, when they finished 29th in rushing.

“Obviously, the running back is a phenomenal player and, as everyone here says, one of the most special people ever,” Hafley said. “Everyone seems to be raving about him, so I’m sad I never got the chance to meet him.”

Left tackle Christian Darrisaw and right tackle Brian O’Neill are “really good players” in providing bookend protection for Darnold. They will pose a strong challenge to a Packers front that produced eight sacks against the Titans last week.

“They really put it all together,” Hafley said. “They are a talented team with a very good plan, so they are a challenge. They scored a lot of points.”

It’s up to Hafley to find a way to stop all that firepower.

That starts with trying to get into the head of one of his good friends.

“We talk a lot,” Hafley said. “Obviously we won’t do that this week, but I have a lot of respect for him.”

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