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Time to Sack Hackett


jolly red giant

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As Andrew Mason pointed out yesterday evening, teams can now begin interviewing HC canadidates two weeks before the end of the season.

There is no point in keeping Hackett as HC. Irrespective of what Wilson has or has not done - Hackett has shown zero evidence that he is HC material and there is nothing from the past few months that indicates that he will grow and develop into a solid HC. Sacking him today allows for the front office to begin the process of finding his replacement - and gives them a headstart on the other teams needing a HC.

It is nonsensical to suggest, as some have, that we should cut Wilson now. That would cost $107m in cap space and no matter how much you would want to do it that would result in having to release some players that the team should be keeping. It would also result in some others refusing to sign new contracts. Furthermore - because of the sh*tshow of a season we have had we really do not know if another HC could repair some of the damage and get Wilson to a servicable level. 

In my opinion the only option today is to sack Hackett - find a HC with some experience (Quinn is still my preferred choice - if Payton wanted to take the job because he thought he could fix Wilson then I would be in favour of that providing the cost wasn't too high) and see if they can do anything with Wilson. If he is as bad next season then by all means cut and start the rebuild. 

In my opinion it would be stupid to start a rebuild with Hackett. Outside of the fact that he has sown no evidence of being a capable HC - you don't start a rebuild with what is essentially still a rookie HC - you need some experience for that. Even if you decide to blow everything up aftr this season - Hackett is not the HC who should be doing this.

I do think a rebuild will be needed at some point - and I have no problem with benching Wilson after a few games next season and tanking for a QB in the 2024 class if the season was going pear-shaped. But again - Hackett should not be at the helm for this. Its time to move on.

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So do what they’ve done since 2015?

Listen, I am not a Hackett fan but Denver defensively has been a good football team for almost a decade, but can’t compete for the playoffs because of how abysmal the QB play has been.

Since Manning retired this team has had Case Keenum, Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Brandon Allen, Drew Lock, Jeff Driskel, Joe Flacco, Teddy Bridgewater, Brett Rypien and now Russell Wilson at QB.

Obviously Wilson was supposed to be the answer to the QB problem, but it’s pretty clear he isn’t a good QB.  

So for the 3rd time the solution is to fire the coach when he’s been having to compete in the NFL with a borderline NFL player at the most important position in all of sports. 

Now hire a new guy who inherits the same problem at the QB position and will need to be fired as HC in a year or 2 and do it all over again.

The only advantage I see in firing Hackett is if you can get someone who can convince Wilson that he’s a system QB.  That he is to manage the offense and not be the offense.  

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Worst O in the league.   What Hackett was brought in to oversee.  
 

Most penalized team in the league.  That’s coaching.  
 

Abysmal 1H production - even without play-calling duties Hackett has a major hand overseeing pre-game O planning.   They script the opening drive(s).   The improvements in 2H fall more on Klint Kubiak than Hackett.  
 

His statements like “we need to be better in the RZ” in the TEN game at halftime when they didn’t make it to the RZ.  Or the focus on the 3rd down O when we are worst at 1st/2nd down.   The lack of in-depth understanding is eye opening. 

Decisions like keeping Jeudy static for 13 weeks.    Then deciding maybe they should move him around   Understanding how the personnel fits and who goes where - that’s Hackett’s supposed area as well.   Plus he oversees the OL personnel decisions and signs off - which has been disastrous to say the least with Anderson / Fleming and the Wattenberg / anyone at G vs  KC.  And painfully obvious to see   . 

The game management & preseason we’ve covered ad nauseum.  

Firing Hackett isn’t going to solve Wilson completely.  Wilson owns his problems.   The OL needs an overhaul.   But this one’s a no brainer.   Hackett’s not part of the solution he’s definitely part of the problem. 

To drive home the point further - Hackett’s analysis damns him yet again:

 

If only there was a position where you could get a team ready to play….


 


 

 

Edited by Broncofan
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I have no problem firing Hackett. 

But I’m still trying to understand the Quinn love. What is it about him that’s so great? His losing record as a HC without Kyle Shanahan & Co running his offense? The fact that he coached under Pete Carrol who made Russ look good? Is that he’s now a coordinator for an overhyped team that’s on national TV every week? Is it that he’s a 52 year old who wears his hat backwards? 

Wasn’t he supposedly the hot candidate last year but didn’t get a HC job? What’s changed? He has Micah Parsons, a unicorn talent, who is going to win DPOY. So what. How does that help fix Russ and the OL. 

Was Quinn some mastermind at game management and player development in Atlanta? Do you think Parsons wouldn’t be on the Dallas PS without Quinn’s brilliance as a defensive mastermind? Give me a break. 

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FWIW every reporter is singing the same tune today.   I suspect yesterday was the final nail in the coffin - only the timing is likely saving a firing today (2 weeks to go, and holidays).    Paton stays, Hackett done.  
 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Broncofan said:

To drive home the point further - Hackett’s analysis damns him yet again:

 

If only there was a position where you could get a team ready to play….

I mean what is he supposed to say?  

He’s being nice here because the truth would be something like, “We went in with a mindset to win but our QB wasn’t ready to play, turned the ball over twice in first 5 offensive plays leading to us spotting LAR 17 10 minutes into the game so we couldn’t do the things we were looking to do because our QB blew the game.”

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39 minutes ago, germ-x said:

I mean what is he supposed to say?  

He’s being nice here because the truth would be something like, “We went in with a mindset to win but our QB wasn’t ready to play, turned the ball over twice in first 5 offensive plays leading to us spotting LAR 17 10 minutes into the game so we couldn’t do the things we were looking to do because our QB blew the game.”

He has no answers or depth.  He didn’t understand the root problems and his depth of response with every issue made that crystal clear.    This wasn’t any different.  
 

He wasn’t the only problem but he was never going to be the solution.   Thank goodness this part is over. 

Edited by Broncofan
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3 minutes ago, Broncofan said:

He has no answers or depth.  He didn’t understand the root problems and his depth of response with every issue made that crystal clear.    This wasn’t any different.  
 

He wasn’t the only problem but he was never going to be the solution.   Thank goodness this part is over. 

In this scenario you’re reaching.  Others 100%, but in this instance the only feasible answer is our QB didn’t do his job, he didn’t want to take it that far.

Should be another interesting offseason.

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7 minutes ago, AnAngryAmerican said:

What worries me is in the statement Greg Penner said he would lead the coaching search. 

Someone who inherited his money by marrying into it, has never built anything in his life and has five months of football experience leading a coaching search. 

Ice Berg right ahead!!!

To be fair Penner had nothing to do with with the last hire.  And this kind of statement happens all the time.  Leading the search doesn’t always mean making the final call.  
 

More importantly - this was the first day new hire interviews opened up for teams.  I was worried the FO was going to play out the string and not get a head start.   Hackett’s hire was a disaster and frankly firing him at the bye would have been better.   But the FO action today strongly suggests they were waiting until the first day they could start a search to let Hackett go.

 I can be a lot more forgiving of their timeline knowing they were ready to move on from day 1 of the job search window opening.  

Edited by Broncofan
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7 minutes ago, BroncoBruin said:

Russell Wilson is not fixable but there was no scenario where you could bring back Hackett. Stunning levels of incompetence all year. 

This. It had to be done. Was he the only problem? Of course not. Arguably not even the biggest problem (I remember hearing a lot of the same criticisms thrown Jared Bednars way during his first season), but he had lost the confidence of those above AND below him. 

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