Nathaniel Hackett (born December 19, 1979) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. A former long-time assistant to

Doug Marrone Douglas Charles Marrone (born July 25, 1964) is an American football coach and former offensive lineman who is the offensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as the head coach a ...

, Hackett previously served as the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

for the NFL's

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

, as well as several positions for the

Syracuse Orange The Syracuse Orange are the athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East Conference. The school's mascot is ...

in college football from 2010 to 2012. He served as the head coach of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

in 2022, but was fired during the season after a 4–11 record.

Coaching career

Early career

After working as an assistant coach for

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

and

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, Hackett began his NFL career as a quality coach under

Jon Gruden Jon David Gruden (born August 17, 1963) is a former American professional football coach who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He held his first head coaching position with the Raiders franchise during thei ...

with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in 2006. He served there for two years before moving to the

in that same role for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He worked with quarterbacks such as

Bruce Gradkowski Bruce Raymond Gradkowski (born January 27, 1983) is a former American football quarterback and current offensive coordinator for the St. Louis BattleHawks. He played college football at Toledo. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the ...

Chris Simms Christopher David Simms (born August 29, 1980) is an American sports analyst and former American football, football player. He was a quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in t ...

Jeff Garcia Jeffrey Jason Garcia (born February 24, 1970) is a former American football quarterback. After attending high school and junior college in Gilroy, California, Garcia played college football at San Jose State University. A four-time CFL All-St ...

Ryan Fitzpatrick Ryan Joseph Fitzpatrick (born November 24, 1982) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. During his career, Fitzpatrick started at quarterback for nine different teams, the most ...

, and

Brian Brohm Brian Joseph Brohm (born September 23, 1985) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is currently the interim head coach, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for Purdue University. He played college football at Louisv ...

during those years. In 2010, Hackett was hired by

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

as their

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

s and

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

s coach under

, who he would later follow to Buffalo and Jacksonville. Hackett was promoted to

the following year.

Buffalo Bills

In 2013, the Bills hired Marrone as their head coach, and Hackett was brought back to Buffalo as the offensive coordinator. With quarterbacks

EJ Manuel Erik Rodriguez "EJ" Manuel Jr. (born March 19, 1990) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Florida State, leading the Seminoles to an ACC championship and Orange Bowl win in his senior year, and was drafted by t ...

Thad Lewis Thaddeus Cowan Lewis (born November 19, 1987) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is currently the assistant wide receivers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the St. Lo ...

, and

Jeff Tuel Jeffrey Victor Tuel (born February 12, 1991) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for Washington State. He was signed by the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and spent most of 2013 and 2014 as t ...

, the Bills ranked 29th in passing offense that year, but had a prolific running game with halfbacks

C. J. Spiller Clifford "C. J." Spiller Jr. (born August 5, 1987) is an American football coach and former running back who is currently the running backs coach at Clemson University. He previously served as a graduate intern at Clemson in 2020. Spiller play ...

and Fred Jackson. When

Kyle Orton Kyle Raymond Orton (born November 14, 1982) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for Purdue, where he started four straight bowl games. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Dr ...

took over for Manuel as the Bills' quarterback the following year, the team finished with a more respectable passing offense, but the run game suffered.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Marrone opted out of his contract with the Bills following the 2014 season, and was then hired by the

as an

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

and assistant head coach, bringing Hackett with him once again. In 2016, after Marrone was promoted to interim head coach after the firing of

Gus Bradley Paul Casey "Gus" Bradley (born July 5, 1966) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as the defensive coordinator for the Seattle S ...

, Hackett was upgraded from

s coach to interim offensive coordinator after the Jaguars also fired their previous offensive coordinator, Greg Olson. He was confirmed on that position in January 2017. Working with quarterback

Blake Bortles Robby Blake Bortles (born April 28, 1992) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, primarily with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He played college football at UCF, where he received ...

and running back

Leonard Fournette Leonard Joseph Fournette III (born January 18, 1995) is an American football running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the LSU Tigers, and was drafted by the Jacksonville Ja ...

, Hackett coordinated the league's best rushing attack in 2017, leading to Jacksonville winning the

AFC South The American Football Conference – Southern Division or AFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created before the 2002 NFL season, 2002 s ...

and appearing in the

AFC Championship game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

. However, after the Jaguars failed to repeat their success the following year and started 3–8, Hackett was fired by Marrone on November 26, 2018, after the Jaguars lost to the

24–21, a move that surprised him.

Green Bay Packers

On January 14, 2019, Hackett was hired by the

as their offensive coordinator under head coach

Matt LaFleur Matthew Patrick LaFleur ( ; born November 3, 1979) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He has served as the quarterback coach of the Washington Redskins, Notre Dame ...

. Hackett, alongside star quarterback

Aaron Rodgers Aaron Charles Rodgers (born December 2, 1983) is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). Rodgers began his college football career at Butte College in 2002 before transferring to the ...

, led the Packers to becoming the league's best scoring offense in the 2020 season.

Denver Broncos

On January 27, 2022, Hackett was hired to become the head coach of the

after the team had fired their former head coach

Vic Fangio Victor Mick Fangio (born August 22, 1958) is an American football coach who is the defensive consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). Fangio most recently served as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the ...

. In his head-coaching debut against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

, Hackett came under scrutiny when the Broncos faced a 4th-and-5 at midfield with over a minute left to play in the fourth quarter. Despite having three timeouts, Hackett decided to let the clock run down to 20 seconds left for a chance at a game-winning 64-yard field goal. The kick by Brandon McManus was wide left as the Broncos lost, 17–16. The next day, Hackett expressed regret in his decision, stating “Looking back at it, we definitely should have gone for it.” Hackett was again criticized for his clock management in the Broncos' week two matchup against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, a game that Denver would go on to win 16–9. The Broncos subsequently hired

Jerry Rosburg Jerry Rosburg (born November 24, 1955) is an American football coach, who most recently served as the interim head coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). In 2008, he was hired as assistant head coach/special teams co ...

to serve as an assistant to Hackett to help him with game and clock management, beginning with their week three matchup against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. On December 26, with the Broncos sitting at 4–11 following a 51–14

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

loss to the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

, Hackett was fired and replaced by interim head coach

. He became the fifth head coach to not finish his first season after

Lou Holtz Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is an American former football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

Pete McCulley Pete McCulley (November 29, 1931 – November 25, 1992) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach of the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers for the first nine games of the 1978 season. Winning only one game during ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Bobby Petrino Robert Patrick Petrino (born March 10, 1961) is an American football coach. He currently serves as the Offensive Coordinator for the Texas A&M Aggies. He is the former head coach for the Missouri State Bears. Previously, he served as the head coa ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, and

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fro ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Head coaching record

Personal life

Hackett and his wife, Megan, have four children together. He is the son of former college football and NFL coach Paul Hackett. While a student at

, Hackett became a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.

References

External links

Denver Broncos profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, Nathaniel 1979 births Living people American football linebackers American football long snappers Buffalo Bills coaches Denver Broncos head coaches Green Bay Packers coaches Jacksonville Jaguars coaches National Football League offensive coordinators Stanford Cardinal football coaches Syracuse Orange football coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches UC Davis Aggies football coaches UC Davis Aggies football players