Mile High Sports

Meet Coach Hackett in his own hilarious words, his players’ words with a glimpse into his offense

Rich Kurtzman
Hackett (Right) on the sideline in OTAS in 2019. Credit: Adam Wesley, USA TODAY Sports.

Hackett (Right) on the sideline in OTAS in 2019. Credit: Adam Wesley, USA TODAY Sports.

What do we know about Nathaniel Hackett?

He’s 42 years old, has been an offensive coordinator in the NFL for seven years — the most recent with Green Bay — and the Mile High City is his first ever head coaching job.

And that’s about it.

OK, we do know a little more about the guy. He seems like a players’ coach, getting along wonderfully with the players under him. Most notably, with Aaron Rodgers, the 2020 NFL MVP in Hackett’s offense.

Back in November, Rodgers said he hoped Hackett didn’t go anywhere, “unless I do too.”

And he continued, telling Pat McAfee on his podcast, “What he did in Jacksonville, I think, was pure magic. Getting them within a quarter of the Super Bowl.

“He’s a great coach, I love spending time with him. He’s a fantastic teacher. He’s incredible in front of the room,” Rodgers finished.

That’s a great point by AR12, too.

Many people will immediately look to the last two years, when Rodgers and Davante Adams were each named First-Team All-Pros and each enjoyed the best two seasons of their illustrious careers, for proof of Hackett’s success.

However, what may be even more impressive was the 2017 season he spent as the Jaguars’ coordinator. That year, the Jags enjoyed the 5th-best offense in the NFL per scoring (26.1 PPG), while they scored more points than any year in the team’s history. That team featured Leonard Fournette as a rookie, who rushed for 1,040 yards and 9 TDs in 13 games.

In fact, Hackett has done exactly what Pat Shurmur wouldn’t in Denver; he changed the offense to maximize the output of his players.

That’s certainly a positive. The best offensive playcallers are able to adapt and mold their playcalling to fit with what their personnel can do.

Speaking of personnel, let’s get back to the kind words from Hackett’s players, who were sad to see him go:

Marquez Valdes-Scantling said, “One of the absolute best human beings and smartest coaches around. Man this makes my heart happy seeing great people get rewarded. I wish my guy nothing but the absolute best.” Backup QB Kert Benkert said, “This is a W for the Broncos. Good luck coach!” and so on.

Basically, it seems like his players love him. That’s a far cry from what we’ve seen in Denver recently.

And one can see why they do love him. In this video from a Packers practice, Hackett is joking around, he’s full of life and energy; hopefully he can inject some of that energy into Denver’s team.

Man, that seems like a guy who just loves the game of football. And it makes sense that players would be more willing to latch onto his way of doing things when he brings that excitement to every practice.

Simply, from a personality standpoint, Hackett seems like a great hire.

Offensively, he could be the next, young genius in the league.

This is his list of philosophies, which seemed to come from one of his meetings with the Packers:

Seems simple enough. And, it’s what the best offenses in the NFL do. They keep the defense guessing by disguising multiple plays into the same look and personnels.

Another note on Hackett’s offense; the Packers haven’t just been about Adams and Rodgers, even if they are the superstars. This year, three other Packers receivers had 375-plus yards and those three — Valdes-Scantling, Alan Lazard and Randall Cobb — combined for 14 touchdowns.

At tight end, the Packers made a star out of relative unknown Robert Tonyan. And when Tonyan was injured, Josiah Deguara came out of nowhere and became a receiving threat.

And when it comes to running backs, he juggled the use of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon well this year after Jones was the clear No. 1 back in 2020. This year, they each finished with over 1,100 air and ground yards combined, and they totaled 17 touchdowns.

While the Broncos have been focused and built around defense for years, we’re now seeing a change in direction by George Paton, hiring a younger, offensive-minded head coach in Hackett.

With so many successful, young coaches in the NFL — this weekend’s championship games are coached by Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay and Zac Taylor — the Broncos also seemed to make the right choice in this copycat league.

The NFL has been shifted toward the offensive side of the ball for over a decade and it continues to move that way. Paton was smart to hire Hackett for his offensive prowess as well as the way he earns the respect of his players.

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