Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett wasn’t sure what his future would hold when the Broncos fired him as head coach last year, but when Jets head coach Robert Saleh called, he knew what he wanted to do.
Hackett said Saleh has built “a great staff, a great group of men” in New York and that he was proud that Saleh wanted him to be a part of it.
“Robert, he’s the guy that I respected for so long after working with him and now what he has done in his career,” Hackett said, via the New York Daily News. “I have some great memories from when my dad [Paul Hackett] was here [as offensive coordinator from 2001 to 2004]. Back then, with Chad Pennington, Curtis Martin, Kevin Mawae and that crew winning the division, those were some great times. I think all those things added up and I think it made it right for me and my family.”
Hackett and Saleh were both on the Jaguars’ staff in 2015 and 2016, and Saleh hopes Hackett can do for the Jets’ offense what Mike LaFleur, who left after last season, could not. It helps that Hackett has Aaron Rodgers, who has said that Hackett being there was part of the appeal when he asked to be traded to the Jets. After a disappointing year in Denver last year, Hackett thinks he’s working with the right people in Rodgers and Saleh.