Packers Seem Likely To Lose One Defensive Coach At Most

The names of several Green Bay Packers defensive coaches have been flying around as candidates for the various defensive coordinator openings around the league, but it’s now looking less likely the Packers staff will be purged.

On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Eagles, one of the four teams with an opening, hired Juan Castillo, their own offensive line coach, to be their defensive coordinator.

The remaining openings are with the Arizona Cardinals, Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Titans.

Safeties coach Darren Perry, assistant head coach/inside linebackers coach Winston Moss, cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt, outside linebackers coach Kevin Greene and defensive line coach Mike Trgovac have all been mentioned as top candidates, but with Philadelphia hiring from within, the opportunities are greatly reduced.

First, you can take Trgovac off the list — last week he said he was staying in Green Bay.

The Cardinals are likely to interview both Perry and Moss, but they’re also interested in speaking with Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers coach Keith Butler and secondary coach Ray Horton.

Considering Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt is a former Steelers coach and he’s golfing buddies with Butler, one can assume Butler has the inside track on that job.

Tennessee, on the other hand, doesn’t even have a head coach yet after firing Jeff Fisher. The candidates who’ve interviewed for the job have no connection to the Packers, however, so it seems unlikely any Green Bay assistants will wind up there.

Oakland is another story. Although head coach Hue Jackson has already interviewed Chuck Bresnahan for the position, it appears likely the Raiders will make a run at either Moss or Perry.

The good news for the Packers is overall, the defensive coaching staff looks like it will remain largely unchanged once the season ends.