Denver Broncos Fire Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett
The Denver Broncos are officially parting ways with head coach Nathaniel Hackett, just 15 games into his first season as head coach, per a team statement.
The Broncos have struggled the entire year, and have greatly underachieved relative to their expectations. Firing a head coach before his first year is even complete seems a tad hasty, but the Broncos have pulled the trigger and have added another open head coach opportunity.
The Denver Broncos came into the season with the expectations to be Super Bowl contenders after trading multiple draft picks to the Seattle Seahawks to acquire Russell Wilson after seemingly failing to acquire Aaron Rodgers as he opted to remain in Green Bay. Now, the Broncos have been eliminated while the Seahawks have a fighting chance to make the playoffs.
Wilson has heavily regressed, and as of this season is playing like one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL. The offense struggling this badly with an offensive head coach is red flag number one, the next was the fighting on the sidelines between players. Tensions rose quickly with this Broncos team, and without a firm grip on the locker room, Hackett was destined for some misfortunes.
It is unfortunate to see Hackett get canned due to the immense struggles of Russell Wilson, but this was the only possible outcome. Given the contract that the Broncos gave Wilson, he is staying on the team no matter what. They just cannot move on from him at this point in time, so the main goal in Denver has to be to guarantee that it works with Wilson under center.
Is the firing of Nathaniel Hackett harsh and maybe even a little soon given the league memo about money being paid to fired employees? Sure, but it was the only way that any change was going to happen.
