Denver Broncos: 10 biggest mistakes in the George Paton era

7. Letting Nathaniel Hackett not retain Mike Munchak

The Nathaniel Hackett era might genuinely be one of the worst head coaching administrations in the history of the NFL. It was a total clown show, and it was clear from the beginning that Hackett was in over his head. Somehow, he landed on his feet this offseason and is the offensive coordinator of the New York Jets.

In 2022, the Broncos hired Hackett, and it's not like that was some unprecedented move. He had just served as the OC for the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers, who had won the MVP award in 2020 and 2021. It wasn't a bad hire at the time, especially when many thought that hiring Hackett meant that Aaron Rodgers would soon find his way in Denver.

Well, I'm not sure Aaron Rodgers would have played well in the dumpster fire that was the Denver Broncos offense. The biggest issue with the offense in 2022 may have been the offensive line, which struggle with injuries and bad coaching. For some reason, Hackett decided to not retain the services of Mike Munchak, the best OL coach in the NFL and decided to hire an OL coach from the San Francisco 49ers in Butch Barry.

Barry may have been the worst coach on the staff. There were reports that Barry would leave sticky notes in the OL players' lockers that had notes on what they did wrong in a certain game. He'd apparently write that stuff down on notes and not actually show them.

Butch Barry was fired when Jerry Rosburg took over as the HC after Hackett got the boot. I'm sure it was a huge sigh of relief for the OL personnel when Barry got the boot. Somehow, Butch Barry got an OL job this offseason with the Miami Dolphins.

Keeping Munchak around may not have turned the offense into a competent unit, but it would have made life easier for the unit.