The Denver Broncos have not made the playoffs since winning Super Bowl 50 and most any fan will point toward coaching as the main reason for that.
Since Gary Kubiak moved on as the team’s head coach, the combination of Vance Joseph and Vic Fangio went 30-50 in five seasons. It’s a toss-up as far as which coach was worse.
Nathaniel Hackett was supposed to be different. He was an offensive-minded guy with youth (at least for a coach) on his side. He had spent the past several years working with Aaron Rodgers. He was supposed to be the right choice.
And of course, it has only been four games. He should have a minimum of two full seasons to implement his plan with this team and with Russell Wilson as the quarterback, but Broncos fans are an impatient bunch. They are used to a team that competes every year and it has been several years since that has been the case.
The Broncos have turned into a franchise that just keeps putting out mediocrity and one that can’t seem to find the right guy. Hopefully, Hackett can still prove to be the right guy but it is possible that his seat is already starting to get warm.
Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports certainly feels that way, mentioning Hackett in his “Lukewarm Lads: Trending Toward Trouble” section of his latest piece.
Benjamin lists Matt Rhule of the Carolina Panthers and Ron Rivera of the Washington Commanders as the coaches currently in the most trouble and while that may be correct, Hackett is one of two coaches listed in the next category up.
It’s hard to imagine that Hackett would be given his walking papers after just one season. The Broncos have turned over two coaches in five seasons and likely don’t want to open a new search so soon, barring a major disaster over the course of the next 13 games.
At the same time, the team is under brand new ownership which was not in place when Hackett was brought on and that could be a true wild card in this situation. Still, it’s much too early to speculate given that the 2022 season is still so young.
It is interesting to note that the other coach mentioned in the section where Hackett appears is Frank Reich, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, who the Broncos face on Thursday night.
If either of their seats is warm, there is no doubt the temperature will go up for the coach who is on the wrong side of that result.