How in the hell did Nathaniel Hackett become an NFL head coach?

[Rico]

54 minutes ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

Because people don't do their research. 

 

All the media talks about is his time with the Packers. 

 

I remember Nate Hackett as the Syracuse Orange OC that followed Doug Marrone here. 

 

And he ran an awful offense here, followed Marone again to Jacksonville and ran another boring offense there. 

 

They've tried the same thing with Alex Van Pelt, he was around Rodgers and so he gets hype as the next great offensive mind. 

 

Eric B in Kansas City must just interview terribly. That's the only thing I can think. You would think that much time with Reid and Mahomes, he would be an offensive mastermind, but he must not be able to get words out well in the interview, or fails on the question of managing the entire team, not just the offense. 

Yep, Hackett and Marrone came to the Bills from friggin’ Syracuse.

 

Thanks, Russ.

[Big Turk]

41 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

Not a fan of his hiring at all, but to fully ignore the fact that he had a top ten offense two years in a row, including the #1 overall offense in the league two years ago, to instead focus on his race is obtuse.    Also had a top ten offense in 2017 with Blake Bortles as his QB.

 

The guy has been a coach in college and the NFL for twenty years, and has been to the playoff multiple times.   Is he a good head coach, no, but neither is/was Todd Bowles who is on his second stint.  Flores, who you mention, despite the massive amount of hyperbolic media surrounding his tenure in Miami, was also not a good head coach.

 

A lot of NFL coaches get into the league based on contacts they made through family, or college.  To act like its not a "who you know" business is insane. 

 

That may be the case but the skill set needed to be a good head coach is far different than that of a coordinator, which is where many teams fail...Those type of skills are NOT easily obtained if a person doesn't have them...leadership, communication, CEO mentality, etc... a good portion of your success as a head coach is not directly related to football per se...much more is related to managing and leadership on a week to week basis.

Edited October 25, 2022 by Big Turk

[Utah John]

20 minutes ago, Haslett_Stomp said:

 

Gailey was the head coach the first few years of Spiller's career, then Marrone took over with Hackett as the OC

Thanks.  I've tried to delete all memories of those years.

[Rochesterfan]

1 hour ago, eball said:

Seriously.  The ONLY answer is nepotism and the old white boy network.  He has done literally nothing in his NFL coaching career to suggest he was prepared or competent to be an NFL head coach, and that is being displayed for all to see.

 

S-h-i-t like this is why Brian Flores' lawsuit is a legitimate concern for the NFL.

 

Disgusting.

 

 

Totally disagree - he was brought in for 1 reason and 1 reason only - the Broncos were hoping to lure Rodgers to Denver and Hackett was the lure.

 

They knew Rodgers was not happy with Lafleur and was a “free agent” and took a shot.

 

The fact he sucks was not a color thing - it was that he was associated with the best FA QB - and without that he sucks and his old QB sucks.

 

 

[thenorthremembers]

30 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

It's silly to think he had anything to do with that offense, and that it wasnt completely Rodgers and LaFleur. Exactly the type of thinking that puts an incompetent person into a high profile HC job.

LaFleur was McVay's offensive coordinator, did McVay get him the job in GB?   If it was only Rodgers and LaFleur why do they suck this year?  Frank Reich was Doug Pederson's OC.    John Harbaugh was a special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach, did his last name get him his job?  Mike Tomlin was a coach under Tony Dungy and was only a 1 year defensive coordinator when he was hired, was it all Dungy?

 

Take a look back at the history of NFL coaching, there are a lot more "incompetent people" in those jobs than competent ones.    Point being, last names help, every head coach was at one point in time an assistant coach.  Saying anyone of these guys is only a head coach because of their last name, or the coach they coached under is so trite.    Nathaniel Hackett may be terrible as a head coach, but I promise you the guy knows more about football than most normal people have forgotten.     Funny how the same people on this board who think Nate Hackett is terrible at his job, will tell you how Belichick is the greatest coach of all time, and fail to make the connection as to why Belichick sucks at his job now too.

[Matt_In_NH]

Rodgers won the last two MVPs.  This year he is a JAG

[DrDawkinstein]

2 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

LaFleur was McVay's offensive coordinator, did McVay get him the job in GB?  If it was only Rodgers and LaFleur why do they suck this year? 

 

1 minute ago, Matt_In_NH said:

Rodgers won the last two MVPs.  This year he is a JAG

 

That has way more to do with losing Davante Adams than losing Nate Hackett.

[Rico]

True, Hackett is garbage, but let’s not pretend that Brian Flores is legit HC material either.

[london_bills]

Sean Payton 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

1 hour ago, eball said:

Seriously.  The ONLY answer is nepotism and the old white boy network.  He has done literally nothing in his NFL coaching career to suggest he was prepared or competent to be an NFL head coach, and that is being displayed for all to see.

 

S-h-i-t like this is why Brian Flores' lawsuit is a legitimate concern for the NFL.

 

Disgusting.

 

This is why I think the NFL is approaching the Rooney Rule the wrong way. If you have a strong nepotism policy, you won’t have to worry about the Rooney Rule or the lack of minority candidates. 
 

I guarantee that if your dad was some sort of coach in the NFL, you would (with zero experience) be able to get some type of coaching job (at least an entry level one) in the NFL tomorrow.
 

The NFL has a serious nepotism problem. 

[gonzo1105]

Its the same as how Josh McDaniels, Adam Gase etc got jobs with all time great QB's. Stupidity. The fact that NFL owners and GM's etc don't see this is beyond me. Give me the guy who takes a below average QB to the playoffs or a coach who get a team less talented to play up over guys who have it easy coaching HOF QB's.

 

What Mike Kafka is doing with Daniel Jones is HC worthy. Lou Anarumo with the Bengals playing top 5 defense without a ton of household talent.  Those 2 would be at the top of my list. 

[Alphadawg7]

I can’t believe he is actually still in the league.  I didn’t even realize he was until he got the HC job in Denver.  I was stunned that he actually was in GB prior to that.  
 

Not only was he the worst OC I can remember in Bills history, but he’s actually an even much worse head coach.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he was fired already and really should be.  It’s that bad.  

[ticketssince61]

The problem with evaluating coordinators (as well as HC's) is how to differentiate between the coach and players

 

Does a great player(s) make a great coordinator or vice-versa?

 

I think anyone on this board could have been a great OC if they had Brady or Manning

 

 

 

 

 

 

[K-9]

1 hour ago, Warcodered said:

The old Adam Gase method of being Franchise QB adjacent.

[buffalobillswin]

Son of a coach and skin color. That’s usually all an owner needs to make the hire. 

[Gugny]

The Doug Marrone Coaching Tree ...

 

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

14 minutes ago, gonzo1105 said:

Its the same as how Josh McDaniels, Adam Gase etc got jobs with all time great QB's. Stupidity. The fact that NFL owners and GM's etc don't see this is beyond me. Give me the guy who takes a below average QB to the playoffs or a coach who get a team less talented to play up over guys who have it easy coaching HOF QB's.

 

What Mike Kafka is doing with Daniel Jones is HC worthy. Lou Anarumo with the Bengals playing top 5 defense without a ton of household talent.  Those 2 would be at the top of my list. 

 

Counterpoint: Brian Daboll

 

He had a long history of being a bad OC until Allen started playing at an MVP level. 

 

Now he's doing well as Giants HC (although I'm a bit skeptical of their 6-1 record). 

[Freddie's Dead]

Hackett is not a good, HC, but let's face it, his biggest problem is not his coaching, it's how Russell Wilson is sucking out loud.

[FireChans]

1 hour ago, eball said:

Seriously.  The ONLY answer is nepotism and the old white boy network.  He has done literally nothing in his NFL coaching career to suggest he was prepared or competent to be an NFL head coach, and that is being displayed for all to see.

 

S-h-i-t like this is why Brian Flores' lawsuit is a legitimate concern for the NFL.

 

Disgusting.

 

He was the OC of a good offense. That’s how it goes.

[Ralonzo]

 

1 hour ago, eball said:

Seriously.  The ONLY answer is nepotism and the old white boy network.  He has done literally nothing in his NFL coaching career to suggest he was prepared or competent to be an NFL head coach, and that is being displayed for all to see.

 

S-h-i-t like this is why Brian Flores' lawsuit is a legitimate concern for the NFL.

 

Disgusting.

 

 

So let me see if I understand what you're inferring: if any member of a {group} screws up at his job, it impugns the whole {group} (which everyone knows only helps their own), and we should look to other {groups} for filling that job. It can't possibly be that one guy is just a boob who conned a team into hiring him which has never happened before; no, there's a vast conspiracy to promote inferior candidates based on {group identity} to ensure that the franchise loses as many games as possible. How obvious, it's been staring us all in the face and we just weren't as enlightened to see it.

 

Edited October 25, 2022 by Ralonzo
make less specific