Just when you thought Jim Harbaugh might be the last horse to move on the college football coaching carousel, Jeff Hafley came in off of the top rope. In an absolute stunner on Wednesday evening, the Green Bay Packers announced the now-former Boston College Eagles head coach as their new defensive coordinator.
It was a move that sent shockwaves throughout college football, with no doubt it coming that this is the third sitting head coach to leave for a coordinator role -- albeit the first to do so for an NFL gig. Hafley also cited the evolving NIL and transfer portal landscapes as reasons for his departure, per reports.
Hafley never enjoyed an inordinate amount of success with Boston College and a good portion of the fan base wondered why he was returning for 2024 in the first place. But now he's not and the Eagles will be looking for a replacement.
Here are four candidates who could not just replace Jeff Hafley at Boston College, but be better.
Boston College football: 4 Jeff Hafley replacements after shocking exit
4. Bill O'Brien (Ohio State OC)
There are few coaches in football, both college and pro, who are as divisive as Bill O'Brien. If you need any indication of that, just go and take a look at the reactions from Ohio State fans when he was hired as the offensive coordinator this offseason. Or to go back further, look how Alabama fans reacted when he left the Crimson Tide to return to the NFL.
However, the fact of the matter is that O'Brien produced an elite offense at Alabama, even if fans were still unhappy, and was far more successful than anyone expected while the head coach of Penn State. He went 15-9 with the Nittany Lions, which was quite an accomplishment as that program was left picking up the pieces after numerous scandals. A Boston native, he could make sense for the Eagles.
3. Al Washington (Notre Dame DL Coach)
One of the key things we are looking for with Boston College is someone with ties to the program. In that capacity, Al Washington is certainly one of the leading candidates. The current Notre Dame defensive line coach played for the Eagles in his college football career, but also coached with the program on both sides of the ball.
Since then, he's been around the block at solid stops, including most recently spending time on Ryan Day's staff and then joining Marcus Freeman with the Fighting Irish. When Hafley got the job at BC, Washington was a candidate as well. He should be one of the leaders this time around too.
2. Liam Coen (Kentucky OC)
Point blank, of the candidates connected already to the Boston College gig, Liam Coen does the least for me. He's a schematic wizard by trade on the offensive side of the ball and has garnered a lot of attention for what he's been able to do with the likes of Will Levis, among others. But he also has ties to the area as a Rhode Island native who played quarterback at UMass.
At the same time, Coen could be a candidate to take over for Mark Stoops at Kentucky if Stoops were to leave, and that's a substantially better job than BC, no offense. More importantly, my preference would be for the Eagles to hire someone with stronger ties to the program due to the academic and geographic recruiting challenges they face, in addition to having someone more adept developing players and not just relying wholly on scheme.
1. Justin Frye (Ohio State OL Coach)
Justin Frye might be right in the honey-hole for what Boston College should be looking for with this head coaching hire. For one, the current associate head coach at Ohio State was the offensive line coach for the Eagles for five seasons, but has seen his star continue to ascend with the Buckeyes over recent years.
In fact, Frye was one of the leading candidates to take over for Tom Allen at Indiana this offseason and fill that vacancy. That obviously never came to fruition with Curt Cignetti taking over, but that could be to the advantage of BC with the opportunity to bring back a rising star in the coaching industry to a place he's familiar with.