Nathaniel

Hackett

The Dolphins tabbed Hackett as their quarterbacks coach earlier in the offseason. With the Cardinals offering him a better position, Hackett will instead join Mike LaFleur in Arizona. The two have never worked together directly, but Hackett spent three years under Matt LaFleur as Green Bay’s offensive coordinator. He also rejoined the Packers as a defensive analyst in 2025. Hackett has largely flamed out since his first stint in Green Bay. His offenses never finished better than 24th in scoring across two seasons as the Jets’ OC and one as the Broncos’ head coach. As long as LaFleur is the one calling plays, this hire shouldn’t be viewed too negatively, even if it’s clearly based on his familiarity with the system as opposed to his recent track record.

Hackett only just accepted the Dolphins’ quarterbacks coach job in January, making this report an interesting one. The Cardinals just hired head coach Mike LaFleur, who is calling plays on offense. LaFleur is now gathering offensive coordinator candidates to interview, with Hackett in mix. The 46-year-old succeeded LaFleur as Jets offensive coordinator a few years ago and worked with Mike’s brother, Matt, in Green Bay. Hackett’s tenure as Dolphins quarterbacks coach may be over after mere days if LaFleur decides he is indeed the candidate for the job.

The move reunites Hackett with new Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley. Hackett served as a Packers defensive analyst under Hafley, then the defensive coordinator, last year. Hackett also notably served as the Packers’ offensive coordinator from 2019-2021 before taking the Broncos’ head-coaching role in 2022.

A longtime ally of Aaron Rodgers, Hackett’s play calling and scheming has once again failed to produce. Rodgers, according to SNY TV’s Connor Hughes, is “on board” with the switch to Downing following a miserable start to the season for New York’s offense. The Jets through Week 5 are 18th in yards per play (4.5), 22nd in first downs, and 24th in EPA per play. They have used pre-snap motion at one of the lowest rates in the NFL. Downing was most recently offensive coordinator for the Titans from 2021 to 2022. In his final season in Tennessee, Downing’s Titans offense ranked 26th in points and 29th in yards.

Ulbrich did say that titles would not change, but this very strongly hints that Nathaniel Hackett may lose his role as playcaller for the Jets. Passing game coordinator Todd Downing would be the most logical playcaller in the room if that were the case, as he was Titans OC in 2021-2022 and Raiders OC in 2017. It wouldn’t exactly be an exciting change, but removing Hackett may be enough to improve the Jets’ prospects on its own.

A third unnamed Jets player said that Hackett “doesn’t take charge,” and that “half the time he tries to put it on Aaron [Rodgers], and Aaron will get frustrated.” While The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported earlier that the Jets aren’t planning on firing Hackett, Hughes says “that [Owner Woody] Johnson has been critical of Hackett in recent weeks.” Robert Saleh may be gone, but the vibes on this offense remain bad.

The Jets shocked the football world on Tuesday morning when they fired head coach Robert Saleh, who was 20-32 over three and a half seasons at the helm. It appears they’ll stick with Hackett — a longtime member of the Aaron Rodgers orbit — for now despite the team’s offensive struggles over the past few weeks. New York has the league’s seventh lowest EPA per play and 11th worst drop back success rate. The Jets run an uncreative offense that uses play action at a low 20 percent rate. It looks like the team will try to grind their way to victory in a deeply inefficient, outdated system devised by Hackett and Rodgers.

As we now know, Smith didn’t take the role, instead landing the offensive coordinator job with the Steelers. ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio later learned that part of the reason Smith didn’t take the job with the Jets was “because the role wasn’t clear.” On the one hand, it’s not surprising to learn that the Jets sought out an assistant for Hackett, whose struggles have been amplified since his one-and-done season as head coach of the Broncos in 2022. Hackett was brought in last season at the request of Aaron Rodgers, who has continuously stuck by the OC due to their previous relationship at Green Bay. Hackett, along with head coach Robert Saleh, both enter this season on the hot seat after any hopes of success in 2023 were dashed by Rodgers’ Achilles injury. Assuming Rodgers is healthy and playing well, Hackett should be fine. However, if things start to go awry, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Saleh turn over play-calling duties to someone else. The Jets’ first training camp practice is scheduled for July 24.

The report suggests that Jets head coach Robert Saleh has lost some faith in Hackett after he failed to adapt the offense following the injury to Aaron Rodgers. Hackett, who is friendly with Rodgers and was reportedly hand-selected to lead the Jets offense, was criticized for his stewardship of the offense and “multiple coaches and players described Hackett as lacking in attention to detail.” Jets star receiver Garrett Wilson also said after the season, “We’ve gotta make adjustments in the game, we’ve gotta do things to counter what we’re getting.” The Jets ranked last in third down conversions, red zone offense and total offensive EPA. They also finished 31st in total yards, 30th in offensive points per game and 30th in passing yards while scoring just 18 offensive touchdowns in 17 games. It makes sense to bring in some new voices.

This means both general manager Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh are safe for at least one more year, barring a surprise change of heart from Johnson. Rapoport added that even offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett will return for the 2024 season. The Jets were dealt an unwinnable hand with Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles injury a few snaps into the season, though a better investment at backup quarterback could have helped mitigate the damage. Either way, this didn’t get to see their Rodgers experiment play out and will get their chance to do so in 2024. If the season isn’t a rebounding success, we expect Johnson to clean house and start fresh.