Fired Denver Broncos Coach Nathaniel Hackett Could Well Bounce Back Quickly With New Job

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Nathaniel Hackett’s tenure, if you could even call it that, as an NFL head coach did not exactly going according to plan.

The Denver Broncos hired the then 42-year-old Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator with the idea that he would lure Aaron Rodgers with him.

Only, that didn’t happen. Instead, the Broncos shifted to Plan B and traded away a whole bunch of assets to acquire Russell Wilson from the Denver Broncos. They then paid Wilson a ton of money to lock him down for the next five years on his career.

One problem: Wilson stunk. The nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback had, by far, the worst year of his career and first-year head coach Hackett was very clearly not up for the job of fixing him.

Denver fired Hackett less than one full year into his stint as head coach as fans aimed for Wilson’s head as well. Senior Assistant Jerry Rossburg took over as head coach and the team looked much improved in its last two games, going 1-1 with a narrow loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17.

That’s not exactly a glowing endorsement of Hackett. But it still appears he won’t be out of the league for long.

Packers Coach Matt LaFleur Says Nathaniel Hackett Could Return To Team

Hackett spent three years as the offensive coordinator in Green Bay prior to taking the Broncos’ head coaching job. In those three years, he regularly led a high-powered offensive guided by superstar QB Aaron Rodgers.

Now it seems a reunion could be in store according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.

“I think I’ve definitely entertained all that,” LaFleur said Monday. “I think you can never have enough great coaches, and certainly you guys know how I feel about Nathaniel and the job he did here. But again, just getting started into the evaluation phase. I did talk to him after he got let go in Denver. I know that he needs some family time as well.”

LaFleur handled the play calls even while Hackett served as the offensive coordinator in Green Bay. He continued that this year with Adam Stenavich filling Hackett’s role and likely would if Hackett returned.

But for someone who left the league in such a brutal manner, it would be a cushy landing that few saw coming for Hackett.