Where does Nathaniel Hackett rank among worst NFL coaching hires?
Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett. (Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports)
The Denver Broncos fired Nathaniel Hackett 15 games into his first season, but does he rank among the worst coaches in NFL History?
Another year, another coach who was fired without completing his first season; this time, it was Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett.
Hackett received a notice from the Broncos ownership on the Monday after Christmas saying they had decided to move on. Frankly speaking, it may be the best thing for Hackett. He bears a lot of the blame for the way things have gone this year, but he’s not 100 percent responsible.
The disaster of a season, the first in the Russell Wilson era, has been abysmal so far in the Mile High City, so much so that even Broncos Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe, who loves to talk, is having to stay quiet about the team he once won rings for.
Speaking of Wilson, he has a lot to answer for, but that’s another subject for another day, and somewhere, the Seahawks are chuckling. But the story gets murkier. Following the announcement that Hackett has been dismissed, social media lit up, with some tweets saying Hackett is the worst coach in NFL History.
Not so fast. Worse than Urban Meyer? Bobby Petrino? David Shula? Bill Petersen? Rich Kotite? Rod Marinelli? Hue Jackson? Worse than those guys?
It’s easy in this day and age to see success and failure and automatically make assumptions. But Nathaniel Hackett is NOT the worst coach in NFL history. A 4-11 record though only 15 games, is an embarrassing number. Still, the argument could be made that Denver was duped into believing Aaron Rodgers would leave Green Bay to join Hackett, a former Packers assistant in Mile High.
But a record alone doesn’t make you the worst coach, despite what Bill Parcells once said. So who is on the list, and who makes the cut? That gets answered starting with No. 5.
