Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett's Pursuit of Excellence is 'Never-Ending'
Sweet relief is imminent for the football-starved ranks of Broncos Country, as finally the team emerges from its long offseason to — hopefully — reveal itself as a beautiful butterfly.
On Wednesday, the Denver Broncos will embark on a training camp program complete with a new coaching staff, new starting quarterback, and even a fresh ownership group ready to take control on August 9. These seismic changes have been enthusiastically embraced by the organization and its loyal fan base, with all parties ready to purge all things negative in catharsis.
On that front, Broncos' GM George Paton has undoubtedly been the main catalyst for lighting the fuse on what has turned out to be an explosive offseason. Denver's OTAs and mini-camps proved to be positive, and the sense that there is now a group of fully-invested adults in the meeting rooms is palpable.
To get some sort of gauge on how far the Broncos have come in such a short time, it was both interesting and enlightening to learn that head coach Nathaniel Hackett is not going to let his foot off the pedal when preparing the team as it kicks off training camp this week.
“It’s going to be never-ending. No matter how many years you go, you’re always going to be developing and getting better,” Hackett said. “For us, the guys are having fun, the guys are getting after it, and they are competing, which is the most important thing."
Putting the Broncos back in legitimate Super Bowl contention has been the mission for team brass, and the roster is plenty loaded in most areas. That puts added responsibility on the shoulders of Hackett — with the expectation being that the Broncos must hit the ground running in 2022.
Of course, that’s led to some casting doubts that the elevated expectations might come to weigh heavily on the first-year head coach, especially if things were to get tricky early. In the short term, once training camp gets underway, many critical eyes will focus on how Hackett will handle his personnel and the full installation of his outside-zone rushing system.
Having a genuine superstar like Russell Wilson under center will help to get the offensive system firmly in place. But Hackett is not only demanding more from his players, he's also raising the bar for he and his young coaching staff as the Broncos move forward.
“As a coach, we always want more and want to do better—even from myself, from the coaches, from everybody and the players,” Hackett said. “They definitely know what they’re doing, but I want them to do it even better. We want to set that standard and keep attacking and keep getting better every day.”
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