Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett could be building himself a case to return in 2023, but would that be the right decision?
Over the past two weeks, the team’s offense, which has objectively been the worst in the NFL, has looked rather strong. Granted, their last two opponents were not sporting good defenses, but the argument here might be that the team, even in a lost season, is still playing extremely hard for themselves and perhaps the coaches.
Nathaniel Hackett has not fared well in his first season as an NFL head coach, but we’ve heard countless times about how nice of a guy he is and how much the players like him. Recently, Site Expert Sayre Bedinger wrote a piece on a few ways the team could talk themselves into keeping Hackett around for 2023.
In his four reasons, he cited the disastrous injuries, the amount of one score games they’ve been in, the idea of canning a head coach after one year not being an ideal route to take, and the team perhaps being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
When you consider all the possible reasons why the team could opt to keep Hackett, you begin to build a strong case for retaining his services in 2023. Just think, if the team brought in someone like Brian Schottenheimer, who was the offensive coordinator during Russell Wilson’s best seasons, and brought back Mike Munchak, could the team leap into playoff contention?
I think there is too big of a risk to take in retaining Nathaniel Hackett in 2023. Even if the Broncos were to win out, I still believe that the team would have a hard time finding quality replacements to replace the underperforming coaches on the roster.
Hackett would most definitely be on a short leash in 2023 given the prior expectations, and George Paton himself may also be on a short leash too.
Furthermore, what if the Broncos were to have the chance to hire Frank Reich as the head coach? What if another potential head coach for Denver would bring in a stellar coaching staff?
I think by retaining Nathaniel Hackett in 2023, the team is risking way more than if they were to cut ties and bring a fresh face in.