Nathaniel Hackett is an American football coach and the Jacksonville Jaguar’s offensive coordinator. He did the same job for the Buffalo Bills, the New York Jets, and the Green Bay Packers before. He has also worked as a coach for Syracuse, Stanford, and the University of California, Los Angeles, in college football.
After three seasons at Montana, Hackett became an offensive coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. From 2009 to 2012, he was the quarterback’s coach for the Syracuse Orange. He was the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills from 2013 to 2014. He has been criticized for his playcalling and lack of success in the NFL, which caused some teams to fire him.
Nathaniel Hackett Early Life
Hackett was born in Buffalo, New York, and went to high school at St. Francis. He was the quarterback in high school, and he also played quarterback at the University of California, Davis, where he went to college.
He got a job as a graduate assistant at the University of San Diego, where he worked with Jim Harbaugh, who is now the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Hackett’s first full-time job as a coach was at the University of Pittsburgh in 2004 as the running backs coach.
Then, in 2006, he went to the NFL. The Bills hired him as their offensive quality control coach. In 2009, he was given the job of quarterbacks coach. In 2010, he was given the job of offensive coordinator. Hackett was hired by the Jets in 2013 to be their offensive coordinator.
He played for the Jets for two seasons before the Packers hired him in 2015. He worked for the Packers for two years before the Jaguars hired him in 2017. Hackett is known for helping develop quarterbacks in Jacksonville.
Nathaniel Hackett Previous Controversies
In 2017, Hackett was criticized for not using running back Leonard Fournette enough and not giving quarterback Blake Bortles enough opportunities to make plays. Hackett was also blamed for the Jaguars’ offensive problems during the 2017 season, which led to an 8-8 record and a first-round playoff exit.
Hackett was criticized in 2018 for the plays he called and the plays he designed, as well as for keeping Bortles in the starting lineup despite his poor play. This choice led to another 8-8 season and a second straight loss in the first round of the playoffs.
Hackett was criticized again in 2019 for how he called plays and designed plays, as well as for keeping Bortles in the starting lineup despite his poor play. This choice led to another 8-8 season and a third straight early exit from the playoffs. Even with all of these problems, Hackett stayed with the Jaguars and kept working as the offensive coordinator.
Nathaniel Hackett Fired Reason Revealed
It is uncommon for coaches to get fired even before the first season culminates. Hence Hackett getting fired is a major surprise. Actually, the Broncos have had a tough time under his leadership. Things didn’t go the way they desired. The team constantly ranked at lower positions in the offense. Experts say that tackling offense wasn’t the only problem.
Hackett, despite good experience in the coaching field, failed to find a strategy to handle the game. When he had just commenced his coaching, Broncos failed a field goal against the Seahawks. If we talk about the number of penalties, then the Broncos are leading in that. The team was termed a mix of directionless aggression and ineffective guidance.
So clearly, things were not okay under Nathaniel Hackett’s coaching. Players were getting injured, and there was clearly a lack of proper strategy. No wonder Broncos had a disastrous season and ended up performing extremely poorly this season.
The Disastrous Game That Led To Nathaniel Hackett’s Exit
The Denver Broncos had a disastrous season. Broncos’ 51-14 loss against the Rams proved to be the last straw. This embarrassing defeat triggered Hackett’s exit. His strategy of safety first clearly failed since the Broncos have performed the worst in their league.
Also, Hackett failed to get it going with star player Wilson. The management at Broncos will have to quickly search for a replacement. The names of defense coordinator Ejiro Evero and former Saints coach Sean Payton are popping up.
Nathaniel Hackett Vs. Russel Wilson
Experts say that it is wise for the team to move on from Hackett. It might enable them to improve things and mend everything that’s currently going haywire. But the truth is that Broncos star players Russel Wilson and Hackett had friction.
The management handed over too much power to Wilson. Many times Wilson and Hackett wouldn’t be on the same page while planning the strategies for the game. Wilson is failing to justify the hype and price at which he was bought. But the higher authorities can obviously not fire him; hence Hackett was chosen as the first scapegoat.
In the past, he had been credited with helping the Bronco’s offense reach new heights, as they have improved statistically since his arrival and made the playoffs in 2021. But this season’s disastrous run has tarnished his image. He has earned the reputation for being the second coach to get fired before the end of the first season.
