An Exuberant Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett: 'It's Only Fun When You Win Games'
When the Denver Broncos fired Vic Fangio a few weeks ago, one thing was made abundantly clear by GM George Paton: a culture change was needed. Leadership from the top down was going to be the focus of the search for the team's 18th head coach.
After having five different head coaches over the past nine years, it was blatant to see that the organization as a whole has had an abundance of flaws. Per Paton, the Broncos' new direction had to come with incredible leadership, and that starts with the man at the lead of the charge.
Over a search that lasted nearly three weeks, several candidates were interviewed, including former Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn, who was renowned for his leadership style and gravitational pull to his players. It was easy to see why Quinn could have been the frontrunner for the position from the start of the search.
But Paton chose to go in a different direction, opting for Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
Hackett, 42, is an almost exact opposite character from what the Broncos had in their last coaching regime. Wildly energetic, eccentric, and at times electric with his words and emotions, Hackett has an incredible ability to not only command a room but also connect with each and every person in the room on a personal level.
That's what this franchise has been searching for over half of a decade. And it’s a breath of fresh air.
Nathaniel, son of highly-regarded former NFL coach Paul Hackett, got an early break into the coaching world. As a former ball boy for his father’s teams back in the 1980s, Nathaniel was around the game early and often.
Nathaniel would chase down passes from Hall-of-Famers like running back Marcus Allen, play memory games with legendary quarterback Joe Montana, and practice long snapping to punters and kickers at tryouts.
That experience helped shape Hackett's life and career, one that started out at UC Davis playing linebacker, as well as pursuing a degree in neurobiology. In a quiet lab that lasted for nearly 10 hours, Hackett had an epiphany that would forever change the course of his life, kicking off a 20-year coaching run that culminated in being named the head coach of the Broncos.
“When I was there (in the lab), I just remember being in that lab and it was very quiet and very serious,” Hackett explained at his introductory press conference on Friday afternoon. “And I might’ve tried to play a couple of practical jokes and I don’t think a lot of people liked the jokes—I thought they were really good jokes. Then you leave, you go outside, and you are out on the field and you’re with your brothers and you’re with your coach and you just realize—especially how we did it there at UC Davis. It was so family-oriented—it was very powerful. At that moment, I’m like ‘I really need to try this thing’.”
At the time, Hackett was also working as a volunteer and helping coach the linebackers at UC Davis. Keith Buckley, the associate director of football operations at UC Davis, had gotten a new job at the University of Stanford and asked Hackett to come along with him as a quality control coach.
This is where Hackett got his start in a world that he now describes as a “grueling grind," but one he also has a massive amount of respect for.
“There’s so much respect [for Quality Control Assistants],” Hackett said. “A lot of people say, ‘What do quality control guys do?’ It’s everything. They do everything. They’re the ones behind the scenes that are crunching the numbers [and] grinding probably longer than anybody. [I have] So much respect for that position. I always tell coaches, I did it for so long I would never ask them to do anything that I wouldn’t do myself or haven’t done.”
Working his way through the ranks and dredges of the coaching world, Hackett gained and grew even further appreciation for the game that his dad got him into at an early age. Being around the locker room and players was something that Hackett truly appreciated about his father, even if Paul often apologizes for doing so. The younger Hackett keeps his dad and those experiences in incredibly high regard.
At his introductory press conference at UCHealth Training Center, Nathaniel waxed poetic about his idol and hero, describing how Paul would help shape and mold his coaching ability while Nathaniel was the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills. Paul's constructive criticism was tough fatherly love that directly impacted how Nathaniel wants to help his staff grow as well.
“It was a good idea at first [asking his father for that guidance], and then it got really bad when he came to dinner with 20 pages of notes,” Hackett explained. “I was feeling really good about my coaching style until he started giving me all of the advice. It was one of the best things that happened to me. It changed a lot of the things that I did. He was in everything from how I presented meetings, on the field—it was great. I think that’s also why I want to do things here to be able to help coaches get that and [help them find out] how they can develop and how they can learn how to teach better. He’s done so much for me.”
Being able to connect with people is one of the most noticeable traits that the young Hackett possesses. Utilizing that fatherly advice, a massive amount of natural energy, and a genuinely friendly demeanor in a unique but engaging way helps create a natural flow to the conversation.
Hackett's ability to twist pop culture references into his statements helps connect people to his bright personality, and he also uses those references in his coaching philosophy.
A massive Star Wars fanatic, Hackett will sometimes inject buzz words and catchphrases from the popular movie series into his offensive play calls to help ease the language of the system and connect his players to the scheme. But it’s not only Star Wars.
A former hip-hop dance instructor that has a fancy for the musical notes of Justin Timberlake, Hackett finds unique ways to incorporate pop culture into nearly everything he can on the football field — so long as that’s what his players want him to do.
“My favorite thing is when the players become the system and the players own the system and it’s theirs,” Hackett told the attending media. “As they develop their own words, I’m always going to hope that they’re Star Wars words or Justin Timberlake words, I don’t know. Those are the things—that is when they own it and that’s when they become the system. It’s about all of us just working together and getting those things. During that time, it just happened we got to utilize a couple of those terms.”
Injecting those words into his scheme and playbook aside, Hackett also creates a vibrant atmosphere in which his players can have fun. Celebrating together as a team is something Hackett wants to ingrain into each player’s mentality, and utilizing the term “gold zone” — a reference to the Austin Powers film Goldmember — for when the offense gets into scoring position, helps create opportunities for players to be themselves.
This kind of enthusiasm for the game, camaraderie, and bright energy is how Hackett plans to fix a culture in Denver that has been incredibly dim and dull for the past five seasons.
“I think it’s big. It has to be that genuine juice—that genuine energy," Hackett said. “It has to be who you are. [It has to] Vibrate through the whole facility—everyone has to feel it. It’s not just one person, you don’t just save it up for your star player. It has to be with anybody and everybody. It’s something that is so important—this whole generation and world is changing. I call it that ‘YouTube’ generation world. Meetings are different from when I first started—trying to keep people’s attention and inspire them and get them excited. As a coach, you have to have that excitement and energy to find different ways to approach them and get them fired up to learn and get better each day.”
Bringing in an explosive West Coast offense, a sharp focus on relationships, communication, and energy, as well as a fun leadership style sounds like a shot in the arm for this franchise. Asking any player that has been around Hackett will yield comments of endearing passion and love for the first-time head coach.
He connects so well with everybody he touches, and his bright and intelligent football mind pushes and drives his players to be better each and every day.
But at the end of the day, only one thing matters. Winning.
“Let’s make no mistake—it’s only fun when you win football games," Hackett said. "We’ve got to win and that’s what we want to do. I’m so excited to work with this organization [and] with these players [while] meeting with each one of them [and] getting to know them. This is a young, hungry football team, and we’ve got to get over the hump. We’ve got to be excited about it and we all have to do this.”
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