Woody Paige: Hackett makes a memorable first-timer impression

By Woody Paige July 30, 2022 | updated 3 years ago

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The coach in the hat is omnipresent at Broncos training camp.

And he has introduced the Hackett Hat — a floppy camouflage bald-head covering with a Broncos logo, often referred to as a bucket, a boonie or a bush cap. I asked him off to the side if somebody paid him to wear it.

“I really like it,’’ he said of the new fashion statement. The NFL Shop sells them for $45.

Nathaniel Hackett won’t have a second chance to make a first impression. So far, he has made good.

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One moment Saturday, Hackett was playing a quasi-cornerback tapping at wide receivers as they ran by. Two minutes later, the head coach was fist-pumping left tackle Garett Bolles, then discussing a route with rookie free agent Jalen Virgil. Over here, Hackett was sharing a laugh with quarterback Russell Wilson; over there, Hackett had his arm around punter Sam Martin. In the huddle, the coach was shouting “Hey, this is fun!’’ and out in the flat, he was trying to sing a hip-hop lyric blaring from the speakers. Then he was saying hello to visitors Peyton Manning and Kenny Chesney. “Awesome,’’ the coach said.

“I coach ball,’’ he says later.

I asked Hackett if he missed coaching a specific unit.

“No, this is more fun. I get more involved with everybody and coach every player on the field.’’

Then he smiled and closed with: “I’m undefeated.’’

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He’s a 42-year-old human whirligig. It seems Nate The Gyrate could be a guest at the Mad Hatter’s tea party. If he weren’t coaching football, you’d want to ask him over to the house to watch football with. In a previous life, he could have been a Mark Twain character or Mork’s brother in Boulder.

More than 7,000 fanatics had their first football inspection of the coach hired exactly six months ago with the prime purpose to lead the Broncos out of the NFL wilderness. They had to like Nathaniel. What’s not to? He runs around acting like a kid who just was given a pony. He’s a real-life “Ted Lasso.’’

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Hackett is the fourth first-time head coach the Broncos have picked since 2009. He’s certainly not Josh McDaniels, thank goodness. McDaniels was despised by players, his assistant coaches and most all of the people in Colorado. He lasted 18 games in Denver. Now, McDaniels is the Raiders’ dilemma.

Then, after veteran head coaches John Fox and Gary Kubiak produced Super Bowl seasons — with Kubiak’s team winning the Broncos’ last championship — the Broncos’ executive branch returned to appointing rookie head coaches — Vance Joseph and Vic Fangio. Neither could be compared with Hackett at training camp.

Joseph didn’t appear to know what to do or say in 2017. He obviously didn’t know any way to handle No. 1 draft pick Paxton Lynch, who should have received one of those contract addendums demanding he spend at least 30 minutes studying film instead of playing video games. Joseph also believed that Chad Kelly, the last chosen in 2018, was the best of the quarterbacks of that draft. Kelly’s contract should have required a clause that didn’t allow him to attend Halloween parties.

Joseph was thisclose to being fired after one season, but survived for two and won only 11 of 32 games. The hillside at Dove Valley drew tens of supporters to camp workouts.

Fangio knew what to do. He wore a gray winter sweatshirt in July and hung out full-time with the defense. The offensive players needed nametags for the coach to recognize them. Vic was in over his head. Fangio told me in an exclusive interview that he wanted to finish his head coaching career in Denver. He did, after losing 30 games in three seasons.

Hackett got next.

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Will he be the best first-season head coach in Broncos’ history? Hackett will have to surpass Red Miller in 1977 (14-3) and Dan Reeves in 1981 (10-6).

Coach Nate will be the most zealous, but we don’t know his coaching fate.

I do have a theory about the hat and the blue long-sleeved shirt and long pants on Colorado’s sunny days. When Hackett was the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator, he was asked to wear a microphone at practice.

He spoke that day to a player about the importance of sunscreen.

Nathaniel Hackett doesn’t want to get burned with the Broncos.

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Woody Paige: Hackett makes a memorable first-timer impression

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