He worked with Christian Watson, grew up a Packers fan

Wes Hodkiewicz

GREEN BAY The Packers have hired Noah Pauley as their next receivers coach. He replaces Ryan Mahaffey, who left to join the coaching staff in Philadelphia.

Pauley, who most recently served as the pass game coordinator and receivers coach at Iowa State, was set to follow Matt Campbell to Penn State after Campbell was tabbed as the Nittany Lions' next head coach in December.

Here are five things to know about Pauley:

Pauley and Watson grew close during their three seasons together in Fargo, a run that saw the Bison capture NCAA Division I FCS national championships in 2019 and 2021.

With Pauley as his receivers coach, Watson was an FCS All-American and three-time all-conference selection.

Watson led North Dakota State in receiving during each of his final three seasons. As a senior in 2021, Watson caught a career-best 43 receptions for 801 yards and seven touchdowns.

That spring, Green Bay traded up to draft Watson in the second round (No. 36 overall). He's one of nine Bison to be drafted into the NFL over the past decade.

"That's probably the one thing I'm most proud of him is just seeing how much he's developed the last three years," said Pauley of Watson in a May 2022 interview with packers.com.

"We all knew he had athletic abilities, but what he's done from that '19 season until now, he's just continued to grow his game and continued to grow as a person and human being. One thing that I'll cherish for a long time is the relationship he's built with my family and my kids, all that stuff since he's been here."

In that interview, Pauley called his two daughters "Watson's biggest fans." Pauley's wife, Hannah, also texted nonstop with Watson's mom, Christina, leading up to draft night.

"We're really close," Pauley said. "Whether it was football or life, I think we had a lot of good questions on both, him getting engaged, big milestones for him and things like that. I just think he's really matured and really grown up like the young man you expected from the time he's 18 to 22 in college. I'm just really proud of how far he's come."

The summer after Watson was drafted, Pauley was chosen to assist the Packers' coaching staff during the offseason program as part of the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship.

The fellowship is designed as a vocational tool to increase the number of full-time NFL minority coaches. It gives talented coaches opportunities to observe, participate and gain experience during offseason workouts and minicamp with the long-term goal of gaining a full-time NFL coaching position.

Pauley was assigned to then-receivers coach Jason Vrable while also lending a hand to Green Bay's special teams. Vrable is currently the Packers' passing game coordinator.

Regarded as a strong recruiter, Pauley was brought in to coach Iowa State's receivers in 2023. A year later, Campbell added passing game coordinator to Pauley's title.

Pauley was named FootballScoop.com's National Wide Receiver Coach of the Year in 2024 after Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins became the first duo in school history and one of just two pairs nationally with 1,000 receiving yards each that season.

The Houston Texans took both Cyclone wideouts on Day 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft. Higgins was chosen in the second round (34th overall) while Noel drafted in the third (79th).

Prior to joining the NDSU staff in 2019, Pauley honed his craft at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. A four-year starting receiver and returner, Pauley joined the school's coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 2013.

He finished his run with the Bulldogs in 2018 after serving three seasons as the team's offensive coordinator and receivers coach.

Pauley was raised in Duluth, which sits on the shoulder of Lake Superior and near the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.

For that reason, the city of 87,000 tends to be split between Packers and Vikings fans. Pauley's Packers fandom began while watching games at a close friend's house as a child.

"Their whole family was huge Packers fans and I was like, 'All right,' so, I went over there and became a Packers fan," said Pauley in 2022. "My dad is a Vikings fan, so I don't think he's really fired up that I'm a Packers fan. It's just how it worked out."

Although this is Pauley's first full-time coaching position at the professional level, the San Francisco 49ers interviewed him last year for their offensive coordinator opening.

"It's been really cool to have those type of opportunities," Pauley recently told media at Penn State. "I think the biggest thing for us is just kind of be where you are, and things happen the way they happen. I've tried to live my life and just make sure that you take care of what you're doing right now, and then it'll work out how it's supposed to work out."