Packers Interview Christian Parker for Defensive Coordinator

Christian Parker spent two years as a defensive quality control coach for the Packers. Could he come back as defensive coordinator?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Christian Parker was just 27 years old when Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur hired him as a defensive quality-control coach as part of his first staff in 2019.

Could the 32-year-old come back as defensive coordinator?

Parker interviewed on Thursday for the vacancy created by this week’s dismissal of Joe Barry, according to NFL Network’s James Palmer.

After two years of working under then-defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, Parker was hired as defensive backs coach of the Denver Broncos, where he spent the last three seasons. During that span, Denver finished 13th in opponent passer rating and cornerback Patrick Surtain and safety Justin Simmons earned All-Pro honors.

He is schooled in the Vic Fangio-style defenses the Packers employed the last three years by ousted-coordinator Joe Barry, so they’d have a fresh voice with a fresh vision teaching familiar schemes.

Parker’s time in Green Bay left a mark, where he learned from football savant Tramon Williams, who learned from Charles Woodson.

“That started when he and Charles Woodson played together in 2008,” Parker told The Athletic. “That was always his starting point every Tuesday morning to begin preparing on his own. What I learned is it’s important to talk to each guy about his daily baseline process each week and how it ramps up and changes day-to-day.

“Then, what specific things can we add based on the emphasis of each opponent? Then, in meetings, provide a form of consistency week to week on the things we definitely have to take away on a large scale with how they see us, and how we can win the game within the game as a secondary.”

In May, Parker participated in the NFL’s Coach Accelerator Program, which has a goal of increasing “exposure between owners, executives and diverse coaching talent” and building relationships.

“You always want to focus on the job you have, of course, but ultimately my ultimate goal is to be a head coach one day,” Parker told DenverBroncos.com. “I've said that since I was, like, 12 years old. But, of course, it's always a process with that.

“Can't really worry about that down the road, but you always want to be learning and learning from guys like [coach] Sean [Payton] and [defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and things like that, on how to prepare yourself for it when the time comes.”

Joseph called Parker a rising “star” in the profession.

“He's sharp, man,” Joseph said. “He's sharp. He's a star. He is a great partner to work with. As a veteran coach, I've coordinated for about seven years now. My tape is out there, so I'm looking for ways to do different things. 

"Speaking with Christian every day and bouncing ideas off him from what he's done with Vic and guys in the past has been fun. [We're] making changes and growing off what they did last year. He's smart, he works his butt off and his players love playing for him. He's a star.”

As a 21-year-old, Parker got his first job in coach as the cornerbacks coach at Virginia State in 2013. He was a defensive analyst at Notre Dame in 2017 and Texas A&M in 2018 before joining the Packers in 2019.

“He was really patient with the student-athletes,” then-Notre Dame defensive backs coach Todd Lyght said. “When they would ask questions, he would articulate his answers. If they didn’t quite understand, he would try to explain in different ways so it was very relatable to the players.

“I think he did a really good job in terms of his communication with the guys. He’s the type of guy who is going to create positive synergy between the coaching staff and the players, which is going to make him a really good coach in the future.”

Parker is one of four known candidates:

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