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

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

5 minutes ago, corta765 said:

 

Basically this ^

 

They're running that old marrone offense too much.  Run-Run-Pass-Punt

[Tanoros]

2 hours ago, Bandito said:

The world is all about who you know. Don't hate the player, hate the game

In the past I’ve read one of the biggest indicators of success, is who you know. In my personal experience I’ve hired someone I’ve worked with before vs someone I didn’t, simply because I knew what I was getting and I was happy to have it. 

[wppete]

7 minutes ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

They're running that old marrone offense too much.  Run-Run-Pass-Punt

That offense drove me insane. It was so predictable. 

[Boatdrinks]

1 minute ago, Tanoros said:

In the past I’ve read one of the biggest indicators of success, is who you know. In my personal experience I’ve hired someone I’ve worked with before vs someone I didn’t, simply because I knew what I was getting and I was happy to have it. 

Simple as that. Connections and networking ; it’s how the world works. That’s fine , but in the case of Hackett he’s just not very good at what he does. 

[thenorthremembers]

2 hours ago, Big Turk said:

 

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.

Correct, but all you have to base that on is your interview with the coach and what people he has worked with are saying about him.   With how bad the Broncos have been at making that decision its not surprising they chose wrong again.  My point is, Hackett isn't purely a product of nepotism.  It has helped, but overall I wouldnt say the guy has failed at the opportunities he has been given.

[Tanoros]

2 hours ago, Big Turk said:

 

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.

This is a common failure for any industry though. It’s so common to see people hired into a leadership role because of their knowledge/skill doing X job very well. However, like you mention, leading a group of people is very different from actually doing the work. This failure in hiring the right person (people leader) definitely isn’t exclusive to the NFL. I’ve seen it all the time in my career (construction). 

[transient]

3 hours 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.

Typically it's someone who's a great coordinator who just can't Hackett as a HC... he shouldn't even be in the league as a coordinator.

[MJS]

Only Bills fans knew he would flop. He was a legitimate candidate that Broncos fans were excited about.

 

Unfortunately, that's just how it goes. Teams latch on to the first guy they find who has a little success (regardless of the reason) and can string together a proper sentence in an interview.

Edited October 25, 2022 by MJS

[Big Turk]

1 minute ago, MJS said:

Only Bills fans knew he would flop. He was a legitimate candidate that Broncos fans were excited about.

 

Unfortunately, that's just how it goes. Teams latch on to the first guy they find who has a little success (regardless of the reason) and can string together a proper sentence in an interview.

 

Especially if they on offense recently.

[Bob Chandler's Hands]

28 minutes ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

They're running that old marrone offense too much.  Run-Run-Pass-Punt

I think you are selling it short. I recall plenty of Pass (incomplete)-Run-Pass-Punt sequences as well. 

[DrDawkinstein]

48 minutes ago, Bob Chandler's Hands said:

 

 

So the rebuttal to an argument about NFL teams hiring the same type of guys is to point to an example of 8 white dudes who were hired as HC's?

 

 

 

 

And 5 of the 8 came from the Sean McVay "inner-circle" of frat boys. 🤣

 

Edited October 25, 2022 by DrDawkinstein

[Jay_Fixit]

Hackett is the Zack Moss of head coaches.

[gonzo1105]

The reason why Hackett specifically is looked fondly upon by the NFL Community is because his father was looked fondly upon by the NFL Community. His father coached in the NFL for like 20 years and made all kinds of connections for junior. The tea leaves should have been on the wall cause Paul Hackett was a severely overrated coach as well in his day but the NEPOTISM of it all played a huge factor is Nathaniel Hackett being where he is today. 

[Nihilarian]

Great question! 

 

He was hired to be the Packers OC and yet he didn't call the offensive plays at all.

He is a great guy who the players really like and I'd like to think he helped with the game planning... but who knows?

 

I was kinda shocked when I read he was hired as the Broncos HC. I can only think a big reason was that he would be there when GB traded Rodgers to Denver...which never happened. Instead they gave up the farm for Wilson. 

 

The guy sucks so bad at setting up an offense he is making Russell Wilson look like a bum. 

 

I highly doubt he lasts the season as HC.

 

The 2-5 Denver Broncos with a top 5 defense is going to waste because the offense stinks so badly. 

[Solomon Grundy]

4 hours 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.

 

See Kyle Shanahan, Rex/Rob Ryan

[Just in Atlanta]

He and Dave Wannestedt would make a great pair. 

[corta765]

1 hour ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

They're running that old marrone offense too much.  Run-Run-Pass-Punt

 

I was at the Thursday night game in Miami. Incredible atmosphere, Bills still had season despite the Bryce Brown KC loss, and a great defense... I was never more enraged after a game in my life. Swearing in a four hour car ride back to Ft Myers at my aunt's house about how bad and pathetic the offense and coaching was and why can't we have an offense that actually attacks.

 

Thank you Josh.

[dollars 2 donuts]

3 hours ago, stevewin said:

I always thought it was strange - when he was in Buffalo the only positive thing I ever heard about him was his high 'energy'.   Then he went to Jax, and they talked about his high energy.  Then GB and how Rogers liked him and his energy.  I don't think I've ever heard anything positive about his actual knowledge and, you know, actual coaching ability

 

 

It's high energy.

 

 

[0017]

I remember when he was here! It was the worst! Hasn’t changed at all. 

 

Edited October 25, 2022 by Dr. Football

[Tim58]

4 hours 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.  
 

 

 

Was Kubiak really that good of a coach? He was obviously better than Hack, but he was an offensive coach and his offenses were bottom half. He never really did much in Houston either.

 

It seems to me that the reason you won that Super Bowl was because of Wade Phillip's defense, which was stellar.

[DrDawkinstein]

1 hour ago, Tanoros said:

This is a common failure for any industry though. It’s so common to see people hired into a leadership role because of their knowledge/skill doing X job very well. However, like you mention, leading a group of people is very different from actually doing the work. This failure in hiring the right person (people leader) definitely isn’t exclusive to the NFL. I’ve seen it all the time in my career (construction). 

 

The Peter Principle: People in a hierarchy tend to rise to "a level of respective incompetence": employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent.

[Roundybout]

4 hours 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.

 

Same deal. Kingsbury got to manage Mahomes at Texas Tech so therefore he MUST be a good coach. Plus, McVay worked out fine so hiring a young coach who presided over an electric college offense must have been really appealing. No actual analysis of his success or history, mind you. 

[DrDawkinstein]

4 minutes ago, Roundybout said:

 

Same deal. Kingsbury got to manage Mahomes at Texas Tech so therefore he MUST be a good coach. Plus, McVay worked out fine so hiring a young coach who presided over an electric college offense must have been really appealing. No actual analysis of his success or history, mind you. 

 

McVay was young, but he never coached college. He was tied to Kyle Shanahan's offense (father, HC Mike Shanahan).

 

And it should not be forgotten that Sean McVay's grandfather was Jack McVay, Head Coach of the Giants in the 70s, and GM for the 49ers through the 5 Super Bowl run in the 80s-90s.

 

So yes, lots of nepotism. The issue being that nepotism rooted in a time when the league was only hiring white coaches.

 

This is how systemic racism gains and keeps momentum. To many outside observers taking things at face-value today, you could certainly say "This is merely nepotism!". And that is mostly true. But like it or not, those strings of nepotism go all the way back to times of racist hiring. So still racism at the core of the problem.

[HardyBoy]

3 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

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. 

 

Issue isn't a lack of diversity in the lower coaching ranks though...

[Greybeard]

   They brought Hackett in because it is a clever way to tank.  You don't have to get rid of the talent on the roster, just let Hackett do his thing.

[TwistofFate]

5 hours 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.

 

I enjoy the majority of your posts here but come on man.  

[Airseven]

Good question. He must be a persuasive interview. 

 

Meanwhile, his team continues to plummet in the power puffs:

 

1. Eagles
2. Bills
3. Chiefs
4. Bengals
5. Cowboys
6. Giants
7. Vikings
8. Ravens
9. Dolphins
10. Jets
11. Titans
12. Seahawks
13. 49ers
14. Chargers
15. Rams
16. Packers
17. Bucs
18. Cardinals
19. Colts
20. Bears
21. Patriots
22. Commanders
23. Raiders
24. Falcons
25. Jaguars
26. Browns
27. Saints
28. Panthers
29. Steelers
30. Broncos
31. Lions
32. Texans

[Rigotz]

3 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Sure, technically it is more a nepotism issue nowadays than someone in a 2022 NFL Front Office saying "No Blacks".

 

However, for a loooong time the NFL avoided hiring black coaches. And now, we have a nepotism issue where teams favor hiring the sons/grandsons of coaches from when they DID say "No Blacks". So guess who isnt included in those nepotism hires? Outside races.

 

So it is indirectly and inadvertently a race issue.

 

Nuance.

 

If it's a race issue, then it's a gender issue and a sexual orientation issue too.

 

Serious lack of gay coaches, don't you think? Big time lack of female coaches as well.

 

I don't see anyone standing on the soap box for those issues. Meanwhile, we do have black coaches, we do reward franchises who hire black coaches, and we do force all organizations to at least interview black coaches. That's progress.

 

The leap from "Nathaniel Hackett is a bad coach and nepotism is a problem" to "nobody wants black coaches" is just way too far for me and I'd say it's way too far for any reasonable person who isn't trying to make every issue a race issue. Brian Flores was a great coach, but he was hired by a bad owner and he SUED his own team. Even after suing his own team, rightly or wrongly, he was hired again. That is not being black balled and it's a terrible example.

[benderbender]

Hackett got a job and Frazier didn’t. You have to wonder what the barrier for entry is. Previous coaching experience, coordinator success? 

 

It really makes you wonder who was selling Hackett to teams? Maybe he just had the interview of a lifetime.

[eball]

49 minutes ago, TwistofFate said:

I enjoy the majority of your posts here but come on man.  

 

Yes, I agree I overstated my point.  There just aren't many rational explanations for why this idiot is a HC.

 

[2003Contenders]

The short and quick answer to the question posed by the OP: John Elway.

 

There are very few decisions that he has made during his managerial tenure with the Broncos that have panned out.

[Dr. Who]

2 minutes ago, benderbender said:

Hackett got a job and Frazier didn’t. You have to wonder what the barrier for entry is. Previous coaching experience, coordinator success? 

 

It really makes you wonder who was selling Hackett to teams? Maybe he just had the interview of a lifetime.

They wanted an OC. That's where most of the head coaching jobs are coming from nowadays. You could plausibly argue that Hackett was just nominal in that position, but mostly they thought they were getting Rodgers when they hired Hackett. When that didn't work out, they compounded the mistake by trading a boatload of picks and players for a washed up qb and tripled down by paying up on a huge extension.

[Rochesterfan]

3 hours ago, wppete said:

It’s mind boggling he is a HC and Frazier isn’t. What more does a franchise want then what they can get hiring Frazier? He has everything, playing experience, HC experience, DC experience and top defense. He is a respected guy, a leader and can be a face of the franchise. 

 

Teams want young and offensive coordinators - the 2 things Leslie is not.

 

Older Defensive HCs are for holding down the fort until you can get a QB - see Houston.

 

Leslie should be everything teams want in a HC - especially with his embrace of analytics and his processing of teams and teaching and letting his position coaches coach, but very unlikely he ever gets a shot.

 

 

[Buffalo Bills Fan]

2 hours ago, Solomon Grundy said:

See Kyle Shanahan, Rex/Rob Ryan

Kyle Shanahan is pretty good coach. 

3 hours ago, MJS said:

Only Bills fans knew he would flop. He was a legitimate candidate that Broncos fans were excited about.

 

Unfortunately, that's just how it goes. Teams latch on to the first guy they find who has a little success (regardless of the reason) and can string together a proper sentence in an interview.

 

Agree

 

Leslie Fraizer should get another chance as a head coach. For sure i'd hire him over Hackett.

Edited October 25, 2022 by Buffalo Bills Fan

[blacklabel]

He must be an amazing interview. 

 

I do know he gets props for a lot of his creativity in play designs. I think that's one of the things that have kept him around for so long. But it doesn't look like he knows the first thing about managing a team as a head coach. I was astounded when he was announced as their hire. I've been saying it since that day that the guy would be one and done. And now he might not even make it one full season. 

 

Every year a team gets snookered into hiring the "brilliant offensive mind OC" from another team and somehow they always overlook the fact that the OC had an all world QB playing for him. Maybe they thought Russ would get back to form but he's just been flat out bad. 

 

Denver keeps spinning their tires in the mud like so many teams do. They have some talent, they have some pieces on both sides and they keep believe they're just a QB away. They probably need to have a full on fire sale and rebuild. I'll take one Courtland Sutton, please. 

[GunnerBill]

7 hours ago, Rigotz said:

 

If it's a race issue, then it's a gender issue and a sexual orientation issue too.

 

Serious lack of gay coaches, don't you think? Big time lack of female coaches as well.

 

I don't see anyone standing on the soap box for those issues. Meanwhile, we do have black coaches, we do reward franchises who hire black coaches, and we do force all organizations to at least interview black coaches. That's progress.

 

The leap from "Nathaniel Hackett is a bad coach and nepotism is a problem" to "nobody wants black coaches" is just way too far for me and I'd say it's way too far for any reasonable person who isn't trying to make every issue a race issue. Brian Flores was a great coach, but he was hired by a bad owner and he SUED his own team. Even after suing his own team, rightly or wrongly, he was hired again. That is not being black balled and it's a terrible example.

 

I don't think it is too far for a reasonable person to go. White coaches still have more "ins" to the old boys network that runs NFL teams than black coaches do. 

 

The question isn't even so much as how does Nathaniel Hackett get a HC job.... how does he get three runs as an OC in the NFL with such a limited track record of discernable success? He gets them because his dad opens doors for him. Whereas there is a lack of black coaches getting those doors opened.

 

The reason the hiring of black coaches has dropped off is that invariably when they were hired they were defensive guys - many of them out of the Dungy tree - and the league has pivoted so far (too far in my mind) towards hiring HCs from the offensive side of the ball. Now unless you can come up with some logical reason why black coaches don't coach offense you get back to nepotism not giving them the opportunity to do so. Excluding running back coaches (who seem disproportionately to stay as career running back cosches rather than coaching other spots and potentially moving on to coordinator posts) I'd be interested to know the number of black offensive position coaches vs the number of black defensive position coaches. 

 

As for do we have enough female coaches or gay coaches, the issue is primarily about whether coaching reflects and represents those playing the game. Which is why those things are lesser issues. We might have had gay NFL Head Coaches... but we don't know. We have certainly had more than one gay player. The sexuality issue is less one of representation and more one pf visibility at this point.

6 hours ago, blacklabel said:

 

Denver keeps spinning their tires in the mud like so many teams do. They have some talent, they have some pieces on both sides and they keep believe they're just a QB away. They probably need to have a full on fire sale and rebuild. I'll take one Courtland Sutton, please. 

 

They are a QB and a coach away. But they are not much else away.

[Boatdrinks]

Nepotism, who you know, whatever you want to call it. It’s all good because that’s just how the freaking business world works. The NFL is part of that and then some. It really is a pretty insulated and exclusive group. The issue with Hackett is he’s living off his father’s name without actually having much success on his own. He’s just not a very good OC, much less an NFL head coach. No issue with hiring who you want , IF they’re actually good at the job. 

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

I have to agree. I mean, I know the reasons why:

 

Everyone wants the next offensive guru

Connections

Recency bias

 

Everyone wants the next Sean McVay, which is why teams have pillaged his coaching tree. Which is why Zac Taylor, Matt LeFleur and Brandon Staley have jobs, as underwhelming they have been in those roles. 

 

Hackett is the culmination of a lot of the worst tendencies of the league.

 

 

[Dibs]

Is this a coordinated effort to make some very offensive posters defensive? 🤔

 

(Puns intended).

[Nihilarian]

"Nathaniel Hackett, Denver Broncos

It has been a crap show all season for Nathaniel Hackett and his bizarre decision-making and it just got even worse in Week 5 when the Broncos lost 12-9 to the Colts in overtime. For a team that has quarterback Russell Wilson and talented young players like Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, and Javonte Williams, you have to wonder what is going wrong for the Broncos, especially considering their schedule so far has been relatively easy. Hackett is looking like a one-and-done coach for the Broncos."

 

https://en.as.com/nfl/which-nfl-head-coaches-are-on-the-hot-seat-entering-week-6-n/

 

Rumor has it... that should the 2-5 Broncos fall on their face against the 2-5 Jacksonville Jags in London...

 

Apparently, new Denver ownerships is downright embarrassed about the teams recent decline and are thinking about replacing the current HC with their DC who is doing a darn good job with the defense despite the failing offense. Ejiro Evero

 

Denver has a bye week after this weeks game and changes could be coming.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Nihilarian