The optics, of course, are not good.
The Jets’ hiring of Nathaniel Hackett on Thursday as their latest offensive coordinator was not likely cause for celebration among Jets fans who are still reeling from watching the team play its final three games without scoring a single touchdown.
Hackett is coming off a messy one-and-done season as a first-time head coach in Denver, where the Broncos finished the season with the fewest points scored in the NFL.
The son of former Jets offensive coordinator Paul Hackett, who was with team from 2001-2004 under Herman Edwards, was fired with two games remaining in the season.
Not a great look.
Nor is the fact that Hackett is the Jets’ ninth offensive coordinator in the past 13 seasons.
For all of the surface-level demerits that come with this hire, though, Hackett must be given a chance — for several reasons.
Firstly, the performance of quarterback Russell Wilson, signed to an unwieldy contract despite being in decline, seemed to sabotage the Broncos at least as much as coaching.
Secondly, despite Hackett’s lack of highly ranked offenses during most of his time as an offensive coordinator in his stops in Buffalo and Jacksonville, consider the quarterbacks he was coaching: EJ Manuel and Kyle Orton in Buffalo and Blake Bortles and Cody Kessler in Jacksonville.
Head coach Nathaniel Hackett of the Denver Broncos looks on in the second quarter of a game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Empower Field At Mile High on December 11, 2022 in Denver, Colorado.Getty Images
Green Bay Packers Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett looks on as Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) warms up during a game between the Green Bay Packers and the Cleveland Browns on December 25, 2021 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI. Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesThirdly, there’s at least a possibility that Hackett is a piece to a puzzle that lands Packers superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers, with whom he’s very close, in a trade.
The Rodgers situation still must play out as he decides whether he wants to keep playing and, if he does, whether he wants to remain in Green Bay or be traded.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh insisted he and Hackett didn’t talk about which potential veteran quarterbacks the team plans to pursue this offseason. With all due respect to Saleh, that seems almost impossible to believe.
Hackett, with time and money remaining on his Denver contract and fresh off a season in which he was subject to a flood of public ridicule, didn’t have to jump at this job. He didn’t need to take any job — particularly one at a place where the head coach is likely working under a tacit playoffs-or-bust edict in ’23.
Quarterback plans had to be discussed amongst Saleh, general manager Joe Douglas and Hackett for him to have taken this job. With the Rodgers-to-the-Jets talk gaining momentum and with his relationship with Hackett, Saleh surely wanted to tamp that down as much as possible.
Saleh, too, did his best to tamp down Hackett’s poor showing in Denver, though he didn’t run and hide from Hackett’s rough ride with the Broncos.
Head coach Nathaniel Hackett of the Denver Broncos and head coach Robert Saleh of the New York Jets meet on the field before a game at Empower Field at Mile High on October 23, 2022 in Denver, Colorado.Getty Images“It’s part of the résumé and I get it, but you got to have the discipline to look past recency bias,’’ Saleh said. “You got to be able to look past the … whatever you want to call Denver. But the fact of the matter is that he got to Denver, and he had that opportunity because of his life’s work as an offensive coordinator and all the different things that he’s done in this league and how much respect he’s garnered throughout the league.’’
One person with respect for Hackett is Doug Marrone, his head coach in Buffalo and Jacksonville.
“He’s a smart guy who’s done a good job with limited quarterbacks,’’ Marrone told The Post. “He will bring a lot of energy into the room and I believe he will get the most out of the Jets’ talent. It will be a tough situation if they don’t have a quarterback, but that’s everyone’s challenge.’’
Marrone praised, in particular, the job Hackett did with the 2017 Jaguars, who went to the AFC Championship game with Bortles at quarterback and ranked fifth in the league in points scored and sixth in yards.
“His best job was having a top-10 offense with Blake Bortles in 2017,’’ Marrone said. “I was really shocked at the Denver situation. I don’t know exactly what went wrong.’’
If things go right for the Jets with Hackett, none of the bad optics of today will matter tomorrow.
