Acme Packing Company
Everything old is new again
Brush up on your Austin Powers references, because Nathaniel Hackett is back in Green Bay.
The Packers’ former offensive coordinator has rejoined the team in a new capacity, filling a role similar to the one filled by Robert Saleh last year according to a tweet from beat reporter Matt Schneidman.
The son of long-time NFL and college coach Paul Hackett, Hackett the younger joined the Packers as their offensive coordinator in 2019, serving under Matt LaFleur for three years. The Packers’ offense was incredibly productive during that time, particularly in 2020 when they led the league in scoring. The Packers’ passing game was particularly effective, as Hackett played a role, however small, in Aaron Rodgers’ return to prominence. Rodgers won back-to-back MVPs in 2020 and 2021 in part because of his work with Hackett, though Matt LaFleur’s overall offensive excellence and Davante Adams’ preternatural route-running ability likely had a bit more to do with it than Hackett’s offensive coordinating — he didn’t even call plays as the Packers’ OC.
During his Packers tenure, Hackett developed a close relationship with Rodgers, and that friendship largely defined Hackett’s post-Packers journey. In 2022, he was hired as the head coach of the Denver Broncos, a move seen by many at least in part as an attempt to lure Rodgers to AFC West. It didn’t work. Hackett lasted just a single season in Denver, failing to mesh with Russell Wilson, the quarterback to whom the Broncos had pivoted after Rodgers re-signed with the Packers in the 2022 offseason.
But Hackett would ultimately get to reunite with Rodgers, after all, landing with the New York Jets after Rodgers declared his intention to play for the Jets following his famous darkness retreat. But Hackett and Rodgers couldn’t recreate their Green Bay magic, and Hackett was moved out of his role as offensive coordinator midway through the 2024 season, though he stayed on staff.
Now, with Rodgers in Pittsburgh, Hackett has returned to Green Bay, this time to serve as another set of eyes for the defense.
