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Los Angeles (AFP) – Eliminated from the race for the playoffs of the American football league (NFL), the Denver Broncos announced Monday the dismissal of Nathaniel Hackett, who was making his debut this season as head coach.
“After extensive discussions with (general manager) George (Paton) and our ownership group, we have determined that a new direction is in the best interest of the Broncos,” franchise owner Greg Penner said in a statement.
“This change was made now out of respect for everyone involved and allows us to immediately begin the search for a new head coach,” he said.
With two games left to go in the regular season, the Broncos have a balance of four wins and 11 losses and are last in the West division of the American Conference, with no chance of reaching the playoffs.
Hackett’s firing comes less than 24 hours after the Broncos’ 51-14 thrashing of the Los Angeles Rams.
This 37-point loss is the biggest that quarterback Russell Wilson, the great figure recruited this season to revive the three-time NFL champions, has conceded in his career.
However, the performance of Wilson, one of the best quarterbacks of the last decade, has not been up to expectations and the Broncos soon ran out of options to return to the postseason for the first time since the 2015 campaign, when they won the Super Bowl.
Hackett, 43, was hired in January after three seasons as the Green Bay Packers’ offensive coordinator.
Before Hackett, only four head coaches since 1970 left their posts before the end of their first season. The previous one had been Urban Meyer (Jacksonville Jaguars) in 2021.
© 2022 AFP
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Denver Broncos fire rookie coach Nathaniel Hackett