Nathaniel Hackett - Pro Football Rumors

Packers Notes: McDaniel, Hackett, Zook

January 10th, 2019 at 8:55pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Packers have inquired on 49ers run game coordinator Mike McDaniel in their search for a new offensive coordinator, tweets Tom Pelissero of NFL.com. However, San Francisco already denied permission for the Cardinals to interview McDaniel for their OC job, and it’s likely the Niners will do the same if Green Bay officially comes calling. McDaniel, who is extremely familiar with the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay offense, served as an offensive assistant for the Falcons from 2015-16 while new Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was Atlanta’s quarterbacks coach.

Here’s more from Green Bay:

While McDaniel may not be an option for the Packers, he’s not the only option LaFleur are considering. Former Jaguars offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett is also on Green Bay’s radar, per Tim Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). The Packers could have competition within the NFC North, as Hackett is reportedly also in the mix for the Lions’ open offensive coordinator position. Hackett called plays in Jacksonville for parts of three seasons before being fired in November.
The Packers will not retain special teams coordinator Ron Zook, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Zook, a former collegiate head coach at both Florida and Illinois, joined Green Bay in 2014 and took over as the club’s ST coach the following year. 2018 wasn’t a banner year for the Packers’ special teams crew, as the unit ranked 28th in Football Outsiders‘ special teams ratings, including dead last on punt returns. Bengals assistant special teams coach Brayden Coombs could potentially be a candidate to replace Zook, a source tells Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link).
The Vikings have “vetted” Packers offensive line coach James Campen for the same position, according to Silverstein (Twitter link). Campen finished his playing career in Green Bay and has been a coach there since 2004. At this point, it’s unclear if LaFleur wants to retain Campen, but he’s expected to have offers if he’s not kept on the Packers’ staff. Minnesota also received permission to interview former Packers interim head coach Joe Philbin for their offensive line gig.

Coaching Rumors: Jets, Gase, Cardinals, Lions

January 10th, 2019 at 1:32pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jets likely preferred Baylor’s Matt Rhule to Adam Gase, but as previously reported, things fell apart when Rhule refused to allow the Jets to pick his staff for him. The Jets especially wanted to choose his offensive coordinator and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears the Jets floated Todd Monken to him as an option.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

The Cardinals asked, but were denied, permission to interview 49ers run game coordinator Mike McDaniel for their offensive coordinator position, Matt Barrows of The Athletic tweets. McDaniel is tight with head coach Kyle Shanahan and the team was not prepared to lose him, especially to a divisional rival.
“It appears” that Steve Sarkisian and Nathaniel Hackett are in the mix for the Lions‘ offensive coordinator vacancy, Alex Marvez of SiriusXM tweets. The Lions have been looking for a new OC ever since Jan. 1 when they announced that Jim Bob Cooter‘s contract would not be renewed.
Sarkisian has also spoken with the Cardinals about their OC job, Marvez tweets. Sarkisian has been on the market since Dec. 31 when he was fired by Atlanta.
Both the Cardinals and Browns have sought permission to interview Jets running backs coach Stump Mitchell, a source tells Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The position(s) he’ll be discussing with those teams are unclear, however.

Jaguars Fire OC Nathaniel Hackett

November 26th, 2018 at 9:16am CST by Zachary Links

The Jaguars fired offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Jaguars are 28th in points scored this season and they believe the offensive play calling is at least partially to blame.

The Jaguars dropped to 3-8 on Sunday with their loss to the Bills. Leonard Fournette averaged 5.3 yards and gave the Jags two of their three scores, but it wasn’t enough to pull out the win. The loss pushed them from extremely unlikely to make the playoffs to mathematical elimination and that led to the firing of their OC.

Some would argue that Hackett has not been given the right personnel in Jacksonville, starting with quarterback Blake Bortles. Bortles completed just 12-of-23 passes for 127 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. After the game, head coach Doug Marrone said that he did not consider making a QB change, but the club did feel the need to shake up the staff.

“We would like to thank Nathaniel for his hard work and dedication to the Jaguars organization, and we wish him and his family the best moving forward,” Marrone said in a statement. “These are always tough decisions, but as the head coach, I have to do what I think is best for this football team.”

Hackett joined the Jaguars as their quarterbacks coach in 2015 and took over as offensive coordinator midway through the 2016 season. The Jaguars finished sixth in total offense and first in rushing offense last year, but have been unable to reprise that performance in 2018.

Hackett served under Marrone at Syracuse University and with the Bills, so it’s not clear whether this was a decision made by Marrone or by the higher-ups with the Jaguars. In either case, the pressure is on in Jacksonville, and Marrone is far from safe this offseason.

Jaguars Name Nathaniel Hackett OC

January 18th, 2017 at 5:14pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Jaguars have announced that Nathaniel Hackett will be retained as the club’s offensive coordinator. Hackett was promoted from quarterbacks coach to interim offensive coordinator in late October following the firing of previous OC Greg Olson.

“After taking over as the play-caller in 2016, the offensive unit made a significant jump under the direction of Nathaniel Hackett,” Jaguars executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin said in a written statement. “Nathaniel comes from a coaching family and is truly ardent about the game of football, which is contagious to his players and the assistants. He has a long history of working alongside Coach [Doug] Marrone and we are fortunate to have him on our coaching staff.”

Hackett, 37, has a strong professional relationship with the new Jaguars head coach, having worked as Marrone’s offensive play-caller at Syracuse and with the Bills in the past. He’ll now be tasked with resurrecting a Jacksonville offense that regressed mightily in 2016, and specifically will be asked to continue the development of quarterback Blake Bortles. Hackett becomes the second coordinator to retain his title under Marrone, as defensive play-caller Todd Wash will also return in his same role.

Of course, Hackett’s hiring means that former 49ers/Eagles head coach Chip Kelly — the only other known candidate for the Jaguars OC position — won’t be joining the staff, at least as the play-caller. At present, the Jets and Bills are the only clubs still searching for offensive coordinators (technically, the Rams are as well, but new head coach Sean McVay has announced he will call the plays).

Jaguars Interviewing Chip Kelly For OC Role

January 16th, 2017 at 12:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

Chip Kelly is in Jacksonville today interviewing for the team’s offensive coordinator position, Hays Carlyon of 1010XL reports (on Twitter). The Jaguars are interviewing multiple OC candidates, with Nathaniel Hackett expected to receive one as well, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

This is a second summit between the Jaguars and Kelly. Before taking the interim tag off of Doug Marrone‘s head coach title, the Jags interviewed Kelly for that position. So, there seems to be a lot of interest on the Jags’ part in the twice-fired head coach. Kelly has not interviewed for a job with another team this offseason.

The Jaguars agreed to retain Hackett, who took over the OC job from Greg Olson after the team fired Olson during the season. However, it appears Hackett will have to vie with other candidates to become the full-time Jags OC. This marks the first official interview the Jaguars have conducted for the OC job.

Despite being fired after only one season with the 49ers, Kelly did help Colin Kaepernick have a better season than he did in 2015. Although, the coach’s career arc has pointed downhill since his debut campaign with the Eagles that ended in the playoffs. But the Jaguars saw Blake Bortles regress this season and could be looking for an unorthodox voice to help the former No. 3 overall pick. Kelly, who was eyeing NFL OC jobs shortly after being fired, has evidently piqued the revamped Jags decision-making group’s curiosity.

New Jaguars executive Tom Coughlin attempted to hire Kelly as an offensive assistant before he took the job at Oregon, as Adam Caplan of ESPN.com points out (on Twitter). Kelly’s Eagles went 4-1 against Coughlin’s Giants.

Jaguars To Retain OC Nathaniel Hackett

January 10th, 2017 at 2:34pm CST by Zachary Links

Major changes are coming to the Jaguars, but some things will stay the same. Newly promoted head coach Doug Marrone is going to keep offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Tight ends coach Ron Middleton will also stay in his current position.

After previously serving as the team’s quarterbacks coach, Nathaniel Hackett was promoted to OC in October 2016 following the dismissal of Greg Olson. It was expected that Hackett would remain in his role once Marrone was given the job since the two have a long history together. When Marrone was the head coach at Syracuse, Hackett was on the staff as quarterbacks coach and tight ends coach before ascending to OC. When Marrone became the Bills’ head coach, he brought along Hackett, then just 33 years old, to be his OC. In fact, he was so high on the enthusiastic young coach in 2013 that he did not interview other candidates for the job.

“I’m a firm believer in doing your homework thoroughly. As I mentioned in my opening press conference, I pride myself on my work ethic and in putting my staff together, I’m looking at every variable possible. With that said, Nathaniel’s abilities and creativity arose to the forefront at a very early stage,” Marrone said. “I believe he’s going to be highly successful in our organization and our players are going to enjoy executing our offensive schemes.”

Reactions to Jaguars’ Hirings

January 9th, 2017 at 8:25pm CST by Ben Levine

The Jaguars have officially announced the hiring of head coach Doug Marrone and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tom Coughlin. The organization also announced the two-year extension for general manager Dave Caldwell. Owner Shad Khan released a statement regarding the moves (via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport on Twitter):

“I have confidence that one day soon we’ll look back on today’s news as the moment that inspired and ultimately established the Jacksonville Jaguars as a football team that wins, week to week and season to season.

“I am honored to welcome Tom Coughlin back to Jacksonville, where winning was customary under his leadership. I know he expects the same in his return to head our football operations, and that’s good news for us and Jaguars fans everywhere. The extension of Dave Caldwell’s contract speaks to his excellent work thus far and the continued importance of complementing our talented and promising roster.

“I am particularly enthused to introduce Doug Marrone as our new head coach. Doug is a strong football man in every respect and offers us qualities that will serve us well in all facets of the team, from the meeting rooms to game day and much more. The results will speak for themselves in time, but with Tom coming in to join Dave and Doug, there is no question the Jacksonville Jaguars are a stronger football team today.”

Let’s take a look at some reactions out of Jacksonville following the organization’s busy day…

Caldwell will report to Coughlin, reports ESPN.com’s Mike DiRocco. The writer assumes that Coughlin “will have final say over personnel issues as well as the draft,” although the organization hasn’t confirmed whether this will be the case. A source told Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (via Twitter) that Coughlin presumably “has the final say on everything.”
Marrone believes Blake Bortles can be a franchise quarterback, and this mindset played a significant role in the hiring, reports Rapoport (via NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal). The organization clearly valued continuity, but Rosenthal notes that there will be “pressure on Marrone and Caldwell to turn Jacksonville’s fortunes around quickly.”
Bortles certainly sounded optimistic about the hiring. “I think Doug has earned the respect of the offensive players and I’m excited for him to get this opportunity and the direction of this team,” Bortles told DiRocco.
Rosenthal notes that offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett will presumably keep his role. Hackett worked under Marrone with Syracuse and the Bills.
Meanwhile, Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com tweets that the Jaguars’ defensive coaches were told they’d be retained if Marrone got the job. Alex Marvez of The Sporting News provides even more clarity (on Twitter), noting that the team will at least be keeping defensive coordinator Todd Wash and linebackers coach Robert Saleh.
Mike Smith was thought to be a close second for the Jaguars job, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports tweets. The former Falcons head coach served as the Buccaneers defensive coordinator this past season. In seven seasons in Atlanta, Smith led his squad to a 66-46 record and four playoff births. Roy Cummings of FloridaFootballInsiders.com writes that Smith is still in the running for the Chargers‘ head coaching gig.

Zach Links contributed to this report.

Jaguars Fire OC Greg Olson

October 29th, 2016 at 1:00pm CST by Ben Levine

The Jaguars have made a coaching change after all. The club has fired offensive coordinator Greg Olson, according to Adam Schefter and and Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Quarterbacks coach Nathaniel Hackett will take over as Jacksonville’s play-caller, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

After Jacksonville lost in an emphatic fashion to the division rival Titans on Thursday night, owner Shad Kahn expressed his displeasure with the club’s performance but did not make a move to relieve head coach Gus Bradley, whom recent reports have indicated is safe through the 2016 campaign. Bradley, too, publicly supported his coaching staff, but did not specifically endorse any individual coach following the loss.

Indeed, Bradley has experienced a “disconnect” with Olson for some time, per Rapoport (Twitter link), who adds that Bradley felt the offensive coordinator had abandoned an emphasis on the rushing attack. The Jaguars currently rank 31st in the NFL with only 72.6 rushing yards per game, and place 29th in Football Outsiders’ rushing DVOA.

Jacksonville’s passing game hasn’t been especially effective either, ranking 28th in DVOA as quarterback Blake Bortles has seemingly regressed in his third NFL season. Through seven games, Bortles has only completed 60% of his passes while posting 12 interceptions and nine touchdowns. And Bortles’ statistics don’t paint the entire picture, as Thursday night’s game was evidence that he can pad his numbers late in losing efforts.

Of course, the man taking over for Olson was previously Bortles’ position coach, so it’s fair to wonder if the young signal-caller will be able to improve over the second half of the season. Hackett, 36, has previously served as the offensive coordinator for both the Bills and Syracuse, but has been with the Jaguars since 2015. According to Caplan (Twitter link), Hackett will likely aim to help Bortles to release the ball in a quicker fashion in an effort to stave off opposing pass rushers.

Olson, 53, had been in his second stint with Jacksonville, having served as the team’s assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach during the 2012 campaign. He’s acted as play-caller for a number of NFL teams, including the Lions, Rams, Buccaneers, and Raiders.

NFC Notes: Harbaugh, Suh, Rams

February 13th, 2015 at 8:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh shared some thoughts about his former employer on the Tim Kawakami Show, telling the San Jose Mercury News columnist his parting with the 49ers “wasn’t exactly mutual.”

“I didn’t leave the 49ers. I felt like the 49ers left me,” Harbaugh told Kawakami. The successful coach quickly exited San Francisco for Ann Arbor, Michigan, just after his fourth season as an NFL head coach concluded.

Mired in what appeared to be a consistent struggle with upper management, Harbaugh left despite taking the 49ers to three straight NFC title games, a destination the franchise hadn’t seen since 1997. Harbaugh also confirmed he was told he wouldn’t be back with the 49ers after a Week 15 loss in Seattle. The current Michigan coach, who will work for $5MM this season, didn’t deny then-defensive line coach Jim Tomsula was campaigning for his old job before getting it in January.

“There was definitely a point where you walk down the halls and you … I wasn’t reading anything that was on the Internet, I was really focused on doing my job … but definitely walk down the halls and people look away or they look at you and you know something’s going on,” Harbaugh told Kawakami.

On to those who plan to be paid by NFL franchises this season …

If franchised, Ndamukong Suh‘s salary will balloon into the stratosphere reserved for baseball players and Roger Goodell, but Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin doesn’t care at this point, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com. He plans on the free agent defensive tackle returning for a sixth season in the Motor City. Of course, there are other deciding voices on this expensive matter. Suh would draw a staggering $26.9MM should the Lions franchise him. The former No. 2 overall pick’s cap number was north of $22MM last season, according to OverTheCap.com. The near-$27MM figure would represent more than 19% of the Lions’ overall salary cap if they exercise this option. The team has 23 free agents and only $14.5MM worth of cap space, so some major restructuring would be necessary to make Austin’s ideal vision come to fruition.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher shed some light on his recent offensive coordinator hire, per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner on Twitter, saying it was going to be an in-house candidate. Fisher also noted he had only one in-person interview — Nathaniel Hackett — and a couple of phone conversations with Kyle Shanahan and Adam Gase (via Wagner on Twitter) before promoting quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti. Jeff Garcia was interviewed for the quarterback coach job on Thursday and Friday, but more interviews are coming (Twitter link).
Amid another contract renegotiation, Larry Fitzgerald could finally enter the free agent market, but Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic explains why the 31-year-old Fitzgerald departing would not be the right move for his own sake. Fitzgerald is due $8MM if he’s on the roster when the new league year begins March 10, but that contract carries a $23.6MM cap charge, which is probably a non-starter for most players, let alone a one who hasn’t topped 1,000 receiving yards in a season since 2011. The Cardinals need to slash more than $10MM, according to OverTheCap.com, to move under the salary cap by March 10, and Fitzgerald’s deal is front and center.

Jaguars Notes: Blackmon, Marrone, Olson

February 5th, 2015 at 7:31pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jaguars overhauled the coaching staff underneath head coach Gus Bradley this offseason. Jacksonville added years of high-level NFL experience to the offensive side but, as we know, sometimes too many cooks can spoil the broth. At a press conference earlier today, the Jaguars discussed the breakdown of responsibilities for their coaches heading into 2015 and much more. Here’s a look at the highlights and other news out of Jacksonville..

Jaguars wide receiver Justin Blackmon has made some progress towards his reinstatement but still has a ways to go, according to Albert Breer of NFL.com (Twitter links). Blackmon still has to satisfy criteria within the drug program and then apply for reinstatement.
New Jags offensive line coach Doug Marrone told reporters, including Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com, that he left the Bills without any guarantees of landing a head coaching gig elsewhere.
Marrone has taken heat for his departure from Buffalo but he defended himself from that criticism while emphasizing that he wants to move forward. “At the end of the day, I had two outstanding years in Buffalo,” Marrone said, according to DiRocco. “I think that Terry and Kim Pegula, they’re going to be outstanding. I really can’t say enough for the people within the organization, from the trainers, from the PR department, from the equipment people. They were outstanding. At the end of the day, I had a three-day window on my contract, which was obviously difficult because of the time aspect of it. My family and I made a decision to leave.”
The challenge, Bradley says will be ensuring that offensive coordinator Greg Olson, Marrone, and quarterbacks coach Nathaniel Hackett all work together cohesively, DiRocco tweets. All three men are former offensive coordinators. Bradley added that he doesn’t want to run the Raiders offense or the Bills offense – he wants to put together what’s best for his players (via Vito Stellino of The Florida Times-Union on Twitter).
Bradley said he didn’t know much about Marrone before he started talking to him, according to John Oehser of Jaguars.com (on Twitter). The head coach did talk extensively before hiring him, however.
Bradley said he didn’t talk much to Marrone about how things ended in Buffalo, Stellino tweets. Marrone originally came by just to discuss football philosophy and not to interview, which is why they didn’t get in depth on that (via DiRocco on Twitter).
New offensive coordinator Greg Olson said that he had a good experience in Jacksonville in 2012 and is appreciative of the chance to return, according to DiRocco (on Twitter). He was also surprised by the number of different faces that he saw since he was with the Jags in 2012 under Mike Mularkey (link).
Adam Gase, Olson, and Marrone all interviewed with the team at the same time, DiRocco tweets.
Olson said he talked to the Bears and Rams about offensive coordinator openings, but he didn’t officially interview, Ryan O’Halloran of The Florida Times-Union tweets.
The Jaguars have made a few tweaks to their coaching staff, moving quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo to senior offensive assistant and adding the title of run-game coordinator to defensive line coach Todd Wash’s job, according to O’Halloran (Twitter links).