Nathaniel Hackett - Sins of the Father

Edition #315

Good morning! 🌟

I feel as though I’m a ping pong ball at the minute, being smacked between two paddles representing the QB position and the OC position.

Today we’re back with the OC and focusing on Nathaniel Hackett. The beauty of TJW is I don’t answer to any editors, I get to dive into what I want to dive into, and the purpose of TJW was always that it was designed for the fan who wanted to go deeper.

Hopefully, you feel we do that here at TJW, but as always please do send me messages on what you want to see. And please don’t forget to hit that subscribe button before you leave.

👎 Quinnen Williams, unfortunately, missed out on being named to the final three for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. DE Nick Bosa, DT Chris Jones, and LB Micah Parsons made the cut.

🏆 However, Garrett Wilson made the shortlist for Offensive Rookie of the Year alongside QB Brock Purdy and RB Kenneth Walker III. Sauce Gardner made the shortlist for Defensive Rookie of the Year alongside DE Aidan Hutchinson and CB Tariq Woolen.

🧓 Mel Kiper Jr released his first mock draft and he must have been copying my one from Monday as he also had the Jets taking receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba from OSU. Spoiler, I don’t actually think the Jets will be taking JSN.

🔴 According to NFL Insider Aaron Wilson, the Jets are interested in talking to Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy about their vacant OC position. Bieniemy is still in the running for the head coach role in Indianapolis, but if he doesn't get that, the Jets job would give him the opportunity to call plays, something he doesn't do in KC. I imagine they would add “passing game coordinator” to the title as well.

If you’ve been paying attention to the rumor mill you would have seen a couple of reports linking Nathaniel Hackett with the vacant Jets offensive coordinator position.

NFL insider Adam Caplan reported on Sunday that the former Denver Broncos head coach has a “very good chance” of becoming the new OC.

That report was made on Sunday, it’s now Thursday. We know that Hackett was interviewed last week, but as of writing this, there is no concrete evidence to suggest any deal is close.

I can’t help but think that we are potentially waiting for the Philadelphia Eagles to get bounced from the playoffs before handing second interviews to Kevin Patullo and Brian Johnson. Or maybe we’re waiting to see if Frank Reich secures a head coaching job. That’s just a gut feeling and not based on any information I’ve received.

When you mention the name Hackett there are two things that come to mind for me, and I’m sure many Jets fans:

1. He lost his job as the Denver Broncos head coach in large part because his offense couldn’t operate at even a mediocre level. The Broncos finished dead last in the NFL last season with just 16.9 points per game. Is it all on Hackett? Absolutely not, but as an offensive-minded coach, that’s a hard sell to swap out MLF who oversaw the 29th-ranked scoring offense for Hackett who oversaw the 32nd-ranked scoring offense.

2. His dad Paul Hackett was basically booed out of New York and is often considered one of the worst offensive coordinators in team history. Hackett jumped before he was pushed, opting to resign in January 2005 before being fired, which he almost certainly would have. Was he as bad as memory serves? The Jets ranked 17th in points scored in 2001, 15th in 2002, tied for 23rd in 2003, and 17th in 2004. His inability to use the TEs was always a sour spot and many thought that if you had someone like Curtis Martin, you should consistently be in the top 10.