Denver Broncos fire Coach Nathaniel Hackett after 15 games
With the pairing of Russell Wilson as the Denver Broncos’ new quarterback and Nathaniel Hackett as their rookie NFL head coach producing ever-more-miserable results, the team’s first-year owners opted Monday for the only remedy immediately available to them. They fired Hackett, two games shy of him completing his first season with the Broncos.
The move had seemed increasingly inevitable and came the day after Wilson threw three interceptions and was sacked six times in a 51-14 defeat by the Los Angeles Rams in Inglewood, California. The loss dropped the Broncos’ record to 4-11. They have lost six of seven and 10 of their past 12 games and will miss the AFC playoffs for a seventh straight season since they won the Super Bowl to close the 2015 season in quarterback Peyton Manning’s final NFL game.
“Following extensive conversations with George (Paton, the team’s general manager) and our ownership group, we determined a new direction would ultimately be in the best interest of the Broncos,” Greg Penner, the franchise’s CEO, said in a statement Monday. “This change was made now out of respect for everyone involved and allows us to immediately begin the search for a new head coach.”
The Broncos did not immediately name an interim head coach for the remaining two games of their season. Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero would be one possibility.
“We recognize and appreciate this organization’s championship history, and we understand we have not met that standard,” Penner said. “Our fans deserve much better, and I can’t say enough about their loyalty during such a challenging stretch for our team. Moving forward, we will carefully evaluate every aspect of our football operations and make whatever changes are necessary to restore this franchise’s winning tradition.”
Hackett becomes the third NFL head coach fired this season, following Matt Rhule by the Carolina Panthers in October and Frank Reich by the Indianapolis Colts last month.
The Broncos rank last in the NFL in scoring offense, averaging a mere 15.5 points per game. That’s after they hired Hackett, coming off a stint as offensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers, for his offensive acumen.
They traded in March for Wilson, who was selected to nine Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl in his 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. The Broncos signed Wilson to a five-year, $245 million contract extension before the season and believed they were set to return to the NFL’s upper tier of contenders. But Wilson, 34, is having the worst season of his career, with 12 touchdown passes, nine interceptions and a modest passer rating of 82.6.
The Broncos are tied to Wilson, given his contract. That was not the case with Hackett. So the choice was relatively clear-cut for owner Rob Walton, the Walmart heir who purchased the franchise over the summer from the Pat Bowlen Trust for an NFL-record $4.65 billion, and his investment partners. They took control of the team in August, when fellow NFL franchise owners ratified the deal.
The turbulence began for Hackett in his first game, when he opted for a 64-yard field goal try, which failed, in the closing seconds of a 17-16 loss at Seattle rather than leaving Wilson and the offense on the field for a fourth-and-five attempt.
Hackett added veteran assistant Jerry Rosburg to his coaching staff early in the season to assist with game-management decisions. Later, he turned over offensive play-calling duties to quarterbacks coach Klint Kubiak. Nothing seemed to help, and emotions began to boil over. Sunday’s lopsided loss to the Rams included backup quarterback Brett Rypien exchanging words on the sideline with guard Dalton Risner after a play on which Wilson was sacked, with Risner reacting by shoving Rypien.