The Packers are letting go of their longest-tenured coach

It appears that Green Bay will end up shaking up their roster of defensive assistants after all.

On Saturday, The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman reported that the Green Bay Packers have moved on from defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery. Previously, it was reported that all of the Packers’ assistant coaches were under contract for 2024 — despite the team hiring a new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. This means that Montgomery was either fired or the team “mutually parted ways” with the coach.

After spending eight years as an on-field coach at the college level, Montgomery joined Dom Capers’ staff in 2015 as a defensive assistant. He was promoted to the team’s defensive line coach in 2018 during Mike Pettine’s first year as Green Bay’s defensive coordinator. He was also retained by Joe Barry, earning the title of running game coordinator in 2022. Montgomery, by far, was the longest-tenured coach on the Packers’ staff.

Per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Montgomery will interview with the New England Patriots for a staff opening there in the near future. There has been no word on who the Packers will add on to coach their defensive line.

Earlier this week, Peter Bukowski of The Leap reported that pass rush specialist Jason Rebrovich, who previously held the title of outside linebackers coach for the Packers, would have an “elevated role” on Hafley’s staff. With the change from a 3-4 front to a 4-3 front, one has to wonder if Rebrovich will simply become the team’s defensive line coach, rather than having responsibilities split between edge rushers and interior defensive linemen — as the team has done in the past.

The Packers have hired one coach beyond Hafley during this cycle, though. Former NFL quarterback Sean Mannion retired from the NFL and, according to Brady Henderson of ESPN, has taken a coaching position with the Packers. In his end-of-year press conference, Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur stated that he was hopeful that quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, a 70-year-old who has retired from the NFL in the past, would return to the team. At this point in time, it’s probably a safer bet that Mannion is joining the Packers as either a quality control coach or an assistant quarterbacks coach rather than the outright quarterbacks coach.