When Jonathan Gannon sat down with Matt LaFleur to interview for the Green Bay Packers' defensive coordinator position, he brought a refreshingly flexible philosophy to the table—one that's been his hallmark since his days running the Philadelphia Eagles' defense back in 2021.

Gannon told then-Eagles coach Nick Sirianni that he didn't arrive with a pre-packaged scheme. Instead, he planned to build the defense around his players' strengths. That approach didn't change when he became head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, and it's exactly what he's bringing to Green Bay.

"He probably laughed," Gannon recalled of Sirianni's reaction, "and said, 'You better get one.'"

Five years later, Gannon still hasn't locked himself into one rigid system. He made that clear to LaFleur before taking the Packers job. "The point is the game adapts," Gannon explained. "I don't really get caught up in the 4-3, 3-4. We're an NFL-style defense, hopefully."

His approach is all about evolution. "I just believe you've got to continually, every year, try to adapt and solve problems, and really with your guys in mind," Gannon said. "So this is a whole new crew for me that we're just getting to learn, all new different players, so that's kind of what I mean by that."

That doesn't mean he's flying blind. "Yeah, there's some principles, there's some things I like to do—but it's only if our players can do it," Gannon emphasized. "I told them the other day, if we're not good at this, just because I like it, we're not going to do it."

Gannon's player-first philosophy means he waited until after meeting with his new squad before even starting to develop the Packers' defensive playbook. He expects to build it over time, pulling inspiration from a wide range of sources—a collage of football wisdom rather than a single, pre-written script.

"I told the players this," Gannon said. "I said, 'This is going to be a little different for them.' Because as we're teaching them things, they're going to see tape of Philly, Minnesota, Arizona, Green Bay, San Francisco, Buffalo, Alabama, Georgia. I don't really get caught up in, if you said, 'This is my playbook, here's what we're going to run,' what I said to you guys earlier is full of you-know-what. Because you're really not adapting your scheme to the player."