Entering his 11th season coaching in the NFL, Nathaniel Hackett begins his first year with the Packers in 2019 as the club’s offensive coordinator.
Named to his position on Jan. 16, 2019, by Head Coach Matt LaFleur, Hackett served as the offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars for the past three seasons (2016-18), having initially assumed the role in Week 9 of the 2016 campaign. He also served as the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills for two seasons (2013-14).
Hackett’s first NFL coaching experience came with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he served as the offensive quality control coach in 2006-07. He also worked as the offensive quality control coach with the Bills in 2008-09.
In 2018, Hackett helped the Jaguars register back-to-back games with 500-plus yards of total offense for the first time in team history, with 503 yards vs. the N.Y. Jets in Week 4 and 502 yards at Kansas City in Week 5. QB Blake Bortles set a single-season franchise record with three games with 375-plus passing yards, with all three of those performances coming in the first five games of the season. That included his 376-yard effort with four TD passes in Jacksonville’s 31-20 win in Week 2 over the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots as the Jaguars racked up 480 total yards of offense, the most allowed by the Patriots all season.
In 2017, Hackett helped the Jaguars lead the league in rushing (141.4 ypg) for the first time in team history on their way to an appearance in the AFC Championship Game. Jacksonville posted a league-best 11 games with 135-plus rushing yards, four more than any other team in ’17, and allowed a franchise-low 24 sacks on the season (No. 3 in the NFL). Hackett also guided the offense to a No. 2 ranking in the NFL in red-zone TD percentage (64.0), the top mark posted by the Jaguars in team annals, and a No. 1 league ranking in goal-to-go TD percentage (85.7).
Hackett took over as the offensive coordinator and playcaller for the Jaguars in Week 9 of the 2016 season, and the team improved its rankings in a number of categories under his direction. In Weeks 9-17, Jacksonville ranked No. 5 in the league in rushing (124.8 ypg) over that span after averaging 72.6 yards per game through Week 8 (No. 30 in the NFL). The Jaguars posted a league-high 112 runs of 4-plus yards in Weeks 9-17 after ranking last in the league with just 38 runs in the first eight weeks. Hackett also helped the offense rank No. 15 in the league in sacks allowed with 34 on the season after the team gave up 51 in 2015.
Under Hackett’s tutelage as the quarterbacks coach in 2015, Bortles set single-season franchise records for passing TDs (35), passing yards (4,428), completions (355) and attempts (606). He also set a team record with a passing TD in 15 consecutive games (Weeks 1-7, 9-16) and posted a franchise-record 72 completions of 20-plus yards. Bortles is one of only four quarterbacks in league history (Steve Young, Daunte Culpepper, Aaron Rodgers) to post 4,000 passing yards, 35-plus passing TDs and 300-plus rushing yards in a season, and became the youngest to accomplish the feat by doing so at age 23 in ’15. Hackett helped Bortles join Dan Marino (48 in 1984) and Matthew Stafford (41 in 2011) as the only QBs in NFL history to throw 35-plus TD passes at age 23 or younger. In 2016, Bortles joined Rodgers (2009-10) as the only QBs in league history to register back-to-back seasons with 3,900-plus passing yards, 20-plus passing TDs and 300-plus rushing yards.
Prior to joining the Jaguars, Hackett directed a Bills offense in 2014 that registered an 86.0 passer rating, the top mark by the team since 2002. Buffalo’s quarterbacks combined for only 13 interceptions, the third fewest in franchise history to that point, and the offense registered 33 plays of 25-plus yards, the sixth most in the NFL and the most by a Bills team since 2000. Under Hackett’s guidance, WR Sammy Watkins set team rookie records for receiving yards (982), receptions (65) and 100-yard receiving games (four). QB Kyle Orton posted a career-best 64.2 completion percentage, the third-best mark in team history to that point, and a career-high 87.8 passer rating.
In his first season as an NFL offensive coordinator in 2013, Hackett oversaw an offense that ranked No. 2 in the NFL in rushing (144.2 ypg), the best average posted by the Bills since 1992 (152.3 ypg). Buffalo’s rushing attack was led by RBs C.J. Spiller (933 yards) and Fred Jackson (890 yards), who became the first duo in franchise history to both register 875-plus rushing yards in the same season and were the lone teammate tandem in the NFL to do so in 2013. QB E.J. Manuel started 10 games and set franchise rookie records for passing TDs (11) and completions (180).
Hackett joined the Bills after three seasons at Syracuse, serving as the offensive coordinator and tight ends/quarterbacks coach in 2011-12 after spending the 2010 season as quarterbacks/passing game/tight ends coach. Under his guidance, the Orange set numerous school records in 2012, including total offense (6,188 yards), yards per game (476.0), passing yards (3,757), TD passes (26), completions (295) and first downs (328). Syracuse featured a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard receiver in 2012 for the first time in school history and posted seven games with 500-plus yards of total offense. Hackett tutored QB Ryan Nassib, who finished his career at Syracuse with school records for passing yards (9,190), completions (791) and attempts (1,312) while ranking second in TD passes (70).
Prior to joining Syracuse, Hackett served four seasons as an offensive quality control coach in the NFL, first with the Buccaneers (2006-07) and then with the Bills (2008-09). Before that, he spent three seasons at Stanford University, working as the specialists coach and recruiting coordinator in 2005 and as an assistant to the offensive and defensive coordinators in 2003-04. Hackett began his coaching career at his alma mater, University of California, Davis, in 2003, where he served as assistant linebackers coach.
Hackett was a four-year letterman at UC Davis, where he played linebacker and served as the team’s long snapper from 1999-2002. He won the George Belenis Award in 1998 as the team’s Most Outstanding Redshirt and the “Aggie Pride” award in 2002 as a senior. Hackett was a part of teams that reached the playoffs in all four of his seasons and finished with a combined 41-9 record.
Hackett’s father, Paul, coached 42 seasons (1969-2010) at the college and professional levels, most recently as quarterbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders in 2009-10. Paul was the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh (1989-92) and at the University of Southern California (1998-2000) and was offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs (1993-97) and N.Y. Jets (2001-04).
Born Dec. 19, 1979, in Fullerton, Calif., Hackett is married to Megan. The couple has two sons, Harrison and London, and two daughters, Briar and Everly.
