Many Packers fans were bummed to see Packers assistants be the favorites for the defensive coordinator position last week. Darren Perry was the leader in the clubhouse at that time, but it appears Green Bay is ready to begin their external search for their next defensive coordinator. Green Bay will interview Mike Pettine today then talk with Vic Fangio later this week about the potential position. Pettine comes from the Seattle Seahawks and Fangio coached with Chicago and before that, San Francisco. Both are strong start for an external search.

Pettine is a name I brought up to our Nolan Murphy a couple weeks ago, and he explained that the guy didn’t really have it all together as a head coach in Cleveland as Murph lived and worked there at that time. While that might be the case, Pettine knew how to coach defense. He had top five defenses with the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills during his time at coordinator working under Rex Ryan. Zach Helprin made an interesting point on how Wisconsin Badgers defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard played under him and uses some of their principles with Wisconsin’s defense.

Fangio is the popular name on the street with Packers fans. Due to him having a pretty solid defense for a bad Bears team, it’s drawn interest from the fans. Hilarious considering he is a Dom Capers discipline and runs things similar to what Dom did at Green Bay. That said, I do think Fangio knows how to coach today’s NFL more than Capers. He needs pass rushers though in his system, and I’m not entirely sure Green Bay has a stable of those guys. Reports were that Fangio would prefer to be in warm weather, so, we’ll see if that affects his decision. For whatever it’s worth, Aaron Rodgers always sings his praises, although that might mean diddly.

My guess is Green Bay will not stop there when it comes to external candidates and look at a few other possibilities for the position.

Charlie.