Entering his second year with the Green Bay Packers, Jeff Hafley has made quite the impact. The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman broke down his unorthodox approach to training camp that has made football fun again.
Not to say the Packers weren’t having fun, but defense has long been a priority. Hafley led the Packers to the fourth best takeaway number last season. With 31, that’s a major improvement from the 18 they had in 2023. While he’s been a huge part of the revamped defense, he’s far from the only one involved.
Green Bay Packers Defense Steps up Thanks to ‘Ball King’
Hafley’s secret weapon is defensive quality control coach, Wendel Davis. Davis is a former linebacker at Arkansas. The 36-year-old was their captain in 2009. While Schneidman pointed out he only had two career interceptions and one forced fumble, Hafley knows how much of an impact he has on the team.
The Packers defensive coordinator said he’s a “really good football coach”, one that will likely take over a coordinator position in the near future. Davis is no longer known by that name in practice as the team has simply referred to him as “Ball King” or “BK”.
The “Ball King” concept is simple. Davis is the main man in charge of organizing a new three-team drill for the Packers. Led by Xavier McKinney, Rashan Gary, and Quay Walker, there’s a points system used to track forced fumbles, defensive touchdowns, etc.
The Art of the Packers Defense
Points can be taken away just as quickly as they are earned. Of course, the team has a reward for whoever comes out on top. Evan Williams commented on the most recent award, one he’s keeping close to his chest.
“This week, we have like a little WWE Packers belt that we got, and I was actually the MVP of the team that was winning this week, so I was wearing it over my shoulders all week, strutting around the facility and all that,” he said.
Williams acknowledged that there’s competition to win the belt, which is one of the main reasons he’s been walking around with it. Matt LaFleur recently had to sit down with Nate Hobbs to tell him to tone it down, with the Hobbs situation not even relating to Williams or the “Ball King”.
A former member of the offense, Bo Melton, feels right at home now that he’s a cornerback. Melton immediately fell in love with “Ball King”, calling him “lit”.
Melton continued, “It gets live. Everybody laughing, having a good time. … People out there running hard to the ball, trying to punch it out so they could be on that tape, the ‘Ball King’ tape.”
Ultimately, the Packers are going to do whatever it takes to succeed. They may no longer be one of the youngest teams in football, which could work to their advantage. Now in his sixth year with the team, “Ball King” has found a new energy and approach that the guys have clearly taken a liking to.
