In a somewhat surprising, and certainly little-reported move, the Green Bay Packers have added another coach to Matt LaFleur‘s staff. Jeff Koonz, who served in a variety of roles (including special teams coordinator and interim defensive coordinator) with the West Virginia Mountaineers, has been hired by the team according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.
In addition to the roles mentioned above, Koonz has also held the title of inside linebackers coach. Based on how well West Virginia’s special teams performed under his guidance, it may be easy to determine what role(s) he will have with the Packers.
The Green Bay Packers Hired Jeff Koonz for Matt LaFleur’s Staff
In 2023, Koonz’s special teams unit at West Virginia was one of the best in the nation. They allowed just 0.23 yards per punt return, which ranked fifth.
Per WVU Sports:
“WVU ranked No. 27 in net punting, averaging 40.8 yards and No. 39 in punt returns, averaging 10.23 yards per return and returned one for a touchdown against UNC in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
“The Mountaineers were responsible for three blocked field goal attempts last season, ranking No. 10 nationally, which included two to seal the win at TCU.”
Earlier this offseason, it was reported that Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia was given a contract extension to go with extra duties. One of these new jobs was to assist LaFleur with clock and game management. It is possible that Koonz is being hired as an assistant to do more of the hands-on coaching on special teams, given his success on the college level in that area.
It should be noted that the actual nature of the hiring, including what his specific job will be, has not been made public.
Also noteworthy is the fact that Koonz has experience as a defensive coordinator. In addition to being interim defensive coordinator at West Virginia last year, he served as co-defensive coordinator at Cincinnati in 2016 and at North Texas in 2018.
Current Packers linebacker Eric Wilson played for Koonz at Cincinnati.
Based on his resume, the position that Koonz has worked with the most is inside linebackers. This is interesting for the Packers who lost linebackers coach Anthony Campanile to the Jacksonville Jaguars when they hired him as their defensive coordinator.
