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

[thenorthremembers]

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. 

[Rc2catch]

Everyone wants the next great offensive guy.. The broncos just had the conservative safe veteran guy. 
I do think it’s a bit of the good ole boy network. 
Zac Taylor just went to a Super Bowl and I find him as a terrible coach still.
I thought Siriani was a terrible coach last year. 
The Miami guy has shown brilliance and also shown he’s quite clueless at times. 
Smith in Atlanta has been a bit of a mess

Stefanski in Cleveland has been bad. 

Reich seemed like a sure thing and he’s probably on his way out. 

It’s a tough job and a lot of these guys are being hired probably a few years too early hoping to find the next mcvay. You can argue his offensive genius isn’t that great but his results have been pretty impactful across the league. 
Dorsey has barely been an offensive coordinator and he’s already a leading candidate for Carolina. Him and Frazier have been listed on almost every comment section and social media junk story I’ve read for Carolina coaches. 

[JohnNord]

17 minutes 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.

 

What helped Hackett was working as Aaron Rodgers’ OC.  On paper he could take credit for the success offensively in Green Bay.  Of course, it’s flawed logic, but NFL owners make dumb hires all the time.   Read the excerpt from the Broncos page below:

 

I don’t think it was all nepotism.  I mean it definitely didn’t hurt and probably made him more marketable.  But I think he sold them on the success he had in GB.  

 

 Nepotism likely got him his first NFL jobs as well as his stops as OC under Marrone w/o much proven experience  
 

 

During Hackett's three seasons as Green Bay's offensive coordinator, the Packers ranked fifth in the NFL in scoring (27.2 ppg) while committing the fewest turnovers (37 - 0.75/game) in the league.

Playing for Hackett, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers earned his third and fourth career MVP honors, winning the award in consecutive seasons from 2020-21. Over the last three seasons, All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams ranked second in the NFL in receptions (321), receiving yards (3,924) and receiving touchdowns (34) while posting two of the Top 3 single-season reception marks by a Packer (123 in 2021; 115 in 2020).

Most recently in 2021, Green Bay's offense ranked in the Top 10 in average time of possession (30:36–5th), third-down percentage (41.7%–T-7th), scoring (26.5–T-9th), yards per game (365.6–10th), total yards (6,215–10th) and total points (450–10th). Additionally, the Packers finished with the fewest giveaways (13) in the NFL.

In 2020, Hackett helped the Packers' offense rank No. 1 in scoring (31.8), touchdowns (66), fewest giveaways (franchise-record 11), red zone TD percentage (team-record 80%) and time of possession (32:29) while ranking No. 2 in third-down percentage (team-record 49.4). Green Bay became just the third team in league history to record 500-plus points and commit 11 or fewer giveaways in a single season.

 

That season, the Packers featured four players (Rodgers, Adams, T David Bakhtiari and C Corey Linsley) who earned first-team All-Pro honors—Green Bay's most first-team selections on offense since 1962 (6).”

 

[Warcodered]

5 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

Spot on, eball.  I've been asking the same about Kliff Kingsbury since the day he was hired.  He was an absolute failure as a college coach and had ZERO NFL experience in any capacity.  It's insane.

He was Mahomes adjacent and vaguely reminded people of McVay.

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

His old man helped a bunch of people with their NFL coaching careers and they reciprocated for Nate.  It happens in business all the time.  The current train wreck should be of no surprise to anyone.  It's great to be a Bills fan these days.

[Utah John]

21 minutes ago, Haslett_Stomp said:

I'm sure his cutting edge play selection while OC for the Bills factored into this.  Spiller up the middle on 1st down, Spiller up the middle on 2nd down, pass on 3rd down, punt.  Repeat.

Wasn't Chan Gailey the OC while Spiller was here?

[Beck Water]

4 minutes 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 did have the best scoring offense in 2020, and GB was 13-3 during his 3 seasons as OC there

Now they also had a sound defense and Aaron Rodgers

 

But I guess the idea was if they landed a different top QB it would work the same?

 

I'm not saying that Hackett was the best choice for the Denver job but I'm not sure how you get the "nepotism" or the "old white boy network" out of this.

 

The trend for several years in the NFL has been to hire guys associated with a hot offense (college or pro as HC) and in particular, who only have 1-2 years as OC or even 0 years as OC.

 

Kliff Kingsbury    hot college coach from Texas Tech

Arthur Smith       2 years as hot OC for Tennessee Titans

Matt Rhule          hot college coach for Baylor and Temple

Zac Taylor           QB and WR coach for LA Rams 2017-2018 (I didn't think this would work but it took them to the 2021 Superbowl.....)

Kevin Stefanski   almost 2 years as hot OC for Minn. Vikings

Matt LaFleur        1 year as Rams OC, 1 year as Titans OC

Mike McDaniel     1 year as SF 49ers OC

Kevin OConnell    2 years as LA Rams OC

 

That's  1/4 of the head coaches in the NFL fitting that "little or no experience as an NFL offensive coordinator"

 

TBT I think the nepotism/cronyism part more comes in with hiring retreads like Mike McCarthy, Doug Pederson, Ron Rivera.

[DrDawkinstein]

3 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. 

 

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.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

7 minutes ago, B-Large said:

The Broncos are where the Bills were 10-12 years ago…. Chest deep in folly, and making dumb decisions.  They’re almost mirror image of the Bills with 15 straight losses to a division opponent, since I doubt they beat the Chiefs any time soon.

 

The Broncos needed stability, they should have called Gary Kubiak and begged him to come back.  3 first time head coaches with 2 on the payroll for a few more years. 
 

I knew when the Hackett didn’t play the starters all preseason with a brand new QB he was still incompetent.  

But the counter to this is Kubiak, Shanahan, Norv Turner, Stefanski all come from that running the ball way too much conservative tree. 

 

Good for 6-10, 7-9 but always trying to win with Dalvin Cook carrying the ball 25-times and it's never going to work. 

 

And the poor fans in Cleveland who just scream for more Nick Chubb, more Kareem Hunt, and it's a path to nowhere. 

 

You're competing with Mahomes. This is why Rex was delusional. Thinking you're just going to line up and run over people in 2015, let alone now.  

[buffalostu2]

I live in Denver and laughed at the hire and told them what was coming.   I had no idea it would be quite this bad, but man is it funny to watch such a blessed franchise with the greatest home field advantage in sports, standing in a pile of their own stool.  🤣 

[Beck Water]

26 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

This dude could get fired after this week if he loses to the Jags.  The new ownership group didn't hire him. He looks like he is WAY over his head and has no idea how to right the ship.

 

Some people don't have the proper skills to be a HC.  He clearly doesn't.  Sometimes it takes a while to figure out if a coach actually does have it, but you can usually tell right away when a coach doesn't.  And he doesn't.

 

I kind of disagree with that last.

 

There's a school of thought for coaches, that you hire a competent guy who has mad people skills, is self-aware and capable of improvement/driven to win, support him properly with a good FO, and leave him alone while he figures it out.  That's pretty much been the Steelers ownership choice with Noll, Cowher, Tomlin etc and it's served them pretty well.

 

A lot of the rest of the league, including the Bills for 17 long years, have followed a pattern of 3 or 4 and "OUT!" for HC.  I think that's pretty well where the Broncos have been since 2008.  We've even had folks here (they know who they are) who clamor for McDermott's head saying that he's got an established pattern of coaching mistakes so we should kick him to the curb and find someone better.

[B-Large]

25 minutes ago, Mark Vader said:

He got it because he was supposed to bring Aaron Rodgers with him to Denver.

 

It's incredible that this guy is a head coach.

essentially this.  Once that was dead, the Seahawks could smell the desperation on the Broncos and got incredible value for an aging QB who isn’t a pocket passer…

[Haslett_Stomp]

14 minutes ago, Utah John said:

Wasn't Chan Gailey the OC while Spiller was here?

 

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

[Beck Water]

2 minutes ago, buffalostu2 said:

I live in Denver and laughed at the hire and told them what was coming.   I had no idea it would be quite this bad, but man is it funny to watch such a blessed franchise with the greatest home field advantage in sports, standing in a pile of their own stool.  🤣 

 

I mean, to his credit, he seems to have chosen a competent or even good DC, right?  And people who break down film and know something like Kurt Warner have pointed out that the plays are there, Wilson isn't making the right choices.

 

Is he maybe getting a bad rap for personnel choices where the FO tried to "buy greatness" by trading for Wilson then throwing big money at him and he turns out to be massively un-aware and un-coachable?

[Big Turk]

3 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

I kind of disagree with that last.

 

There's a school of thought for coaches, that you hire a competent guy who has mad people skills, is self-aware and capable of improvement/driven to win, support him properly with a good FO, and leave him alone while he figures it out.  That's pretty much been the Steelers ownership choice with Noll, Cowher, Tomlin etc and it's served them pretty well.

 

A lot of the rest of the league, including the Bills for 17 long years, have followed a pattern of 3 or 4 and "OUT!" for HC.  I think that's pretty well where the Broncos have been since 2008.  We've even had folks here (they know who they are) who clamor for McDermott's head saying that he's got an established pattern of coaching mistakes so we should kick him to the curb and find someone better.

 

If you hire the right guy, he doesn't have this type of dumpster fire on his hands like Hackett does. He is not qualified to run a pro football team as a head coach, period.  That's my whole point.  It's why I said you may need to wait a while to see if a coach actually has it, like with McD,  but you know pretty much right away when they don't. 

 

McD never looked like this on a team with far less talent than Hackett's team has.

[BuffaloMatt]

Nepotism

[Don Otreply]

31 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. 

All businesses are that way, It would be better stated a a private club, that and the HC absolutely needs a competent GM and staff to make it all come together. 

[GunnerBill]

People are desperate to hire offense. 

[The Jokeman]

53 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

This dude could get fired after this week if he loses to the Jags.  The new ownership group didn't hire him. He looks like he is WAY over his head and has no idea how to right the ship.

 

Some people don't have the proper skills to be a HC.  He clearly doesn't.  Sometimes it takes a while to figure out if a coach actually does have it, but you can usually tell right away when a coach doesn't.  And he doesn't.

Keep him for the season as the lower their 2nd round pick the better chance for a good QB prospect. 

[Putin]

Mistakes were made