Nathaniel Hackett Sheds Light on His Return to the Team That Fired Him Ahead of Jets Trip to Denver Broncos

Nathaniel Hackett, the new offensive coordinator of the New York Jets, still has a lot to prove. It’s been many months since Hackett was released from the Denver Broncos coaching staff, and now he might recall his past. The NFL season’s Week 5 matchup is coming up this Sunday. With a 1-3 record so far this year, the Jets are slowly making their way up the leaderboard.

Their next opponent will be the Orange Crush, the same squad Hackett was formerly a part of. The game is set to begin at 4:25 PM ET on Sunday at Empower Field in Denver’s Mile High Stadium. It’s not just a matchup between the Wilsons (Zach Wilson and Russell Wilson), but it’s also a game between Hackett and the Denver Broncos.

How does Nathaniel Hackett feel about his Denver return?

Jets OC Hackett returns to Denver for 1st time since being fired by the Broncos in 2022. Hackett spoke to the media before the game about his feelings about returning to the city.

He said with a smile on his face, “Gotta go win a football game.” The reporter then further inquired, seemingly adding salt to his deep wound, “How did they treat you there?” To which Hackett promptly replied, “Great!”

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Although he answered the questions with ease, fans speculated that they were quite brutal to ask, and his facial expression might have revealed some hidden pain, the pain which he got in 2022.

A quick replay of what happened that day!

Nathaniel Hackett was fired by the Denver Broncos after 15 games of his inaugural season in 2022. It was one of the quickest coaching firings in the NFL. Hackett still had two games left in the season and had a disastrous 4-11 record, which was by far the most losses for the team since 2010. There was a good chance Hackett could have tied the historic loss total of 12, but the Orange Crush let him go before that. According to reports, there are several reasons for Hackett’s coaching failure.

One of the reasons is that Hackett failed to instill discipline within the locker room and was unable to keep the team on the sideline during games. Another explanation could be the team’s poor historical record, including the NFL’s lowest average points per game and third-lowest in franchise history. Another reason might be that the team found itself in a difficult position, needing to address immediate offensive and defensive needs but not having enough cap space or draft picks to do so. In light of all of the above, the Broncos released Hackett and retained Russell Wilson, who was also not in his good form.

Now, as the new offensive coordinator for the New York Jets, Hackett will try to get his team a win over the Denver Broncos, and maybe even a little bit of redemption.

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