Nathaniel Hackett coached Russell Wilson based on how he saw Aaron Rodgers treat Matt LaFleur. That wasn’t right.
Did Aaron Rodgers low-key get Nathaniel Hackett fired by the Denver Broncos? Maybe…
Hackett, who was pushed out of Denver just a year into his gig with the team, led the team to a 5-12 finish and last in the AFC West, where they were expected to be competitive. The team had just signed and extended Russell Wilson to a massive guaranteed contract at the start of the season, and Hackett came over with high expectations due to his time leading a successful Packers offense as coordinator.
A bombshell report from The Athletic that came out this week went into detail on the turmoil that was the Denver Broncos team offices (subscription required) this season. It tells how Russell Wilson had privileges like his own personal office, a personal quarterback coach in the building employed by Wilson and not the team and more.
Wilson was put in this weird spot in the hierarchy where he was not quite a “normal” player, but also not quite in the front office, either.
Needless to say, it was abnormal, and Hackett’s inability to set some ground rules with Wilson seems to be at least part of why he was unsuccessful in leading the Broncos. Turns out, that’s a precedent that Aaron Rodgers might have set for Hackett.
Nathaniel Hackett treated Russell Wilson like Matt LaFleur treated Aaron Rodgers
The in-depth article from Kalyn Kahler, Mike Sando and Jayson Jenks at The Athletic suggested that the dynamic between quarterback and coach mirrored how things started between Matt LaFleur, head coach of the Packers, and Aaron Rodgers, the star quarterback. Hackett, at the time, was the team’s offensive coordinator, watching it unfold.
Reportedly, LaFleur would suggest new ideas in offensive meetings that he wanted the team to explore and Rodgers would flex his authority and shoot them down. According to the report, one coach in Denver thinks absorbing that dynamic is what led to Hackett letting Wilson walk all over him. At least, that’s how the report portrays their relationship.
Maybe Hackett thought quarterbacks were the lead decision makers for the football team, and not the coach. That might be true in Green Bay, but it shouldn’t have been in Denver.
Sean Payton, the new head coach of the Denver Broncos, has already said Wilson will not be allowed to have a personal, non-team coach in the facility. Expect his personal office to be taken away, too.
Time to crack the whip in Denver.