Nathaniel Hackett Brings Music Back to Broncos Practice: 'That’s The Only Thing I Know'
One of the earmarks of the Vic Fangio era — one of the most notorious — was the distinct lack of noise at Denver Broncos practice, as Fangio refused to play music when his team took the field. For three primitive years, the only audible sounds during these sessions were pads popping, players grunting, and coaches dictating.
Goodbye, dark ages.
Hello, renaissance.
On Monday, the first day of Denver's voluntary minicamp, music made its triumphant return to Dove Valley, with Fangio's successor, new head coach Nathaniel Hackett, personally ending the prohibition.
“That’s the only thing I know. I like the music. If I don’t have it, I’ll start freaking out," Hackett told reporters. "You always want to hear that stuff. It keeps it—I feel like on gameday it’s pretty loud. There’s a lot of things going on. I think distractions, to a certain extent, are good. Different music, different people saying things. That’s how it is on gamedays. You want to create that environment as much as possible.”
Hackett, a veritable firebrand, has been widely credited for injecting life into a locker room that grew catatonic under the previous regime. The antithesis of Fangio, his brand of coaching encompasses an energetic, outside-the-box approach, giving him a unique ability to connect with not just any player, but the person under the helmet.
Xs and Os, Rhythm and Blues — if it works, it works. And it's working.
“Obviously our off-the-field relationship has been good, but our on-the-field on the first day today—I told him at the end—congratulations on our first practice together," quarterback Russell Wilson recalled Monday. "It’s a blessing. To be a head coach in the National Football League, it takes a lot of hard work, it takes a lot of excellence, and everything else. I think he’s going to be really amazing. He’s an amazing teacher, and I think that’s what you love about it. I think everybody is learning at such a rapid pace and an exponential rate. That’s been really great. He just brings great energy. He’s young, he’s vibrant and he brings that intelligence to the game. He has a great pedigree, and he wants to win, too."
As for who gets to hold the proverbial AUX cord, that, too, will be a collaborative effort.
“We just told them to mix it up right now," Hackett said of the music playlist. "But I’ll probably say a couple things. I gave everyone their first shot and see what happens now.”
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