Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › Nate Hackett
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January 27, 2015 at 12:10 pm #17475
znModeratorFred Jackson says Nate Hackett ‘couldn’t do what he wanted’
By Mike Rodak | ESPN.com
In Doug Marrone’s two seasons as head coach, the Buffalo Bills’ offense averaged 4.92 yards per play, the third-worst mark in the league.
It’s fair for offensive coordinator Nate Hackett to shoulder some of the blame for those struggles, but running back Fred Jackson believes Hackett was being held back from doing more with the offense.
“I love Nate. I loved what he brought to the table,” Jackson said during his weekly appearance on WGR 550 in Buffalo. “He was a guy that, just anybody else on the team was under fire with the lack of performance that we had as an offensive unit.
“But I could definitely see him not getting to do some of the things he wanted to. I had some conversations with him and it wasn’t always, at times, what he wanted to get done.”
That’s a not-so-subtle shot at coach Doug Marrone, whose sudden departure last week left Jackson feeling like he had been “punched in the stomach.”
When Marrone and Hackett took control of the Bills’ offense in 2013, their offense was built around speed. The Bills averaged 24.7 seconds of possession per play, the second-fastest rate in the NFL.
But a variety of factors — especially their quarterback situation — rendered the offense that season largely inefficient. The Bills ended 39.3 percent of their drives without a first down or touchdown, the seventh-highest rate in the league.
The Bills slowed down the pace this season, averaging 28.0 seconds of possession per play (14th in the NFL), and took a more conservative approach, averaging 7.1 air yards per pass attempt (second-fewest in the NFL).
Hackett wanted to be more aggressive, according to Jackson.
“He was an aggressive guy and has always been since I’ve known him,” Jackson said. “When some of the things that were called that didn’t kind of fit his mold, that is what it is. He couldn’t do what he wanted to.
“Knowing Nate, Nate is a guy that likes to go big or go home. Some of the stuff that he wanted to call, didn’t get called in a game, and I don’t know if that was always his call.”
Hackett remains under contract with the Bills, but his future with the team is up in the air as they search for a new head coach.
“I hope the best for him,” Jackson said. “He’s a great coach, a guy that I loved playing for. A lot of guys loved playing for him. We’ll see what happens and how everything plays out.”
January 27, 2015 at 12:30 pm #17477znModeratorFrom Why Buffalo Bills OC Nate Hackett Isn’t To Blame For Team’s Inconsistent Offense
If you go to the link the article breaks down plays and has screen caps to illustrate
Through the first eight games of the Buffalo Bills 2014 season, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett has emerged as the whipping boy of fans looking to place blame for the team’s inconsistent offense. From vague spews of rage regarding play-calling to play-design, whenever things don’t go Buffalo’s way, Nathaniel Hackett has somehow been at fault in the minds of fans.
Now, this column isn’t intended to pin Hackett as some outstanding coordinator that’s getting the shaft from fans, because that’s not the case. But, I do think that the second-year coordinator deserves quite a bit more credit than he’s received, specifically for the passing game that he’s installed.
Heading into this season, the Bills made it clear that they wanted to be a run-first team, in order to ease the development of EJ Manuel, who was entering his second year in the NFL. The team added Chris Williams and Anthony Dixon in free agency, while trading for Bryce Brown and selecting Cyrus Kouandjio, Cyril Richardson and Seantrel Henderson in the 2014 NFL Draft.
It didn’t take long to realize that Manuel would be unable to take a step forward in his development behind a young, inexperienced and ineffective offensive line, so the team went to Kyle Orton after the Houston Texans loss.
Orton is a veteran quarterback that can read coverages and get the ball out quickly with a collapsing pocket. While the lack of production from the rushing attack has been an issue, the guard play seems to be more at fault than when the plays have been called. What Hackett does have control over is play-design and when to call those plays. When the offensive line has held up, Hackett’s design in the passing game has almost always gotten a receiver open, particularly in the middle of the field.
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While the Bills’ offense has been frustrating to watch at times and it’s easy to point fingers, Nate Hackett has done an adequate job, considering the situation the team is in. A weak offensive line isn’t conducive to running the ball, but he’s using the short passing game as an extension of the run, and he’s calling plays that test defenses both vertically and horizontally.
As the year wears on and the offensive line continues to gel, we should see a bit more production out of the rushing attack, but for now, let’s judge players and coaches on things that they control
January 27, 2015 at 12:37 pm #17480
rflParticipantDoesn’t sound like a fit with Fisher. He could be frustrated again.
By virtue of the absurd ...
January 27, 2015 at 1:14 pm #17482znModeratorDoesn’t sound like a fit with Fisher. He could be frustrated again.
I don’t know about that. Fisher isn’t ground and pound, his thing with the Rams is balance.
January 27, 2015 at 2:37 pm #17485znModeratorRams sorting through coordinator options
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/15785/rams-sorting-through-coordinator-options
EARTH CITY, Mo. — The St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers are the only teams remaining without an offensive coordinator in place. With 10 coordinator jobs all over the league having been filled (11 if you count Scott Linehan’s “promotion” in Dallas), the list of known candidates for the Rams has dwindled.
But the Rams and coach Jeff Fisher will have to make a decision at some point and could be drawing closer to one. Tuesday brings with it one option that is still in play for the job and another that’s been taken off the table.
The most obvious of those choices is former Buffalo offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Hackett interviewed with Fisher last Thursday and remains firmly in the mix for the job. In fact, Hackett is the only outside candidate known to have interviewed for the job to this point and is scheduled to speak to the Rams again on Tuesday. The fact that he’s getting a second interview at the very least means Fisher is intrigued enough to continue considering him, even if it guarantees nothing when it comes to hiring him.
Also on Tuesday, another candidate the Rams are known to have interest in was supposed to become available for interviews. That’s Indianapolis Colts special assistant Rob Chudzinski. The Rams previously requested permission to interview Chudzinski but the Colts denied them permission. San Francisco has also expressed interest in Chudzinski but hasn’t talked to him yet.
But the Colts announced Tuesday morning that Chudzinski will be staying in Indianapolis as associate head coach. At the Colts’ end-of-season news conference, general manager Ryan Grigson indicated that retaining Chudzinski was a possibility.
“I’m not going to get into specifics,” Grigson said. “But it’s ultimately my job to make sure that good people stay in this building and don’t just walk right out. So we’ll address that and do our best to keep good people here.”
Hackett spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator for Doug Marrone in Buffalo. During his time, the Bills struggled offensively with an unsettled quarterback situation not unlike the one the Rams currently have. Still, there are some league observers who believe Hackett has the makeup to be successful if given the right tools with which to work.
Aside from Hackett, the only other potential candidates linked to the job include in-house options such as tight ends coach Rob Boras and quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti. It’s also possible there are others that have not been revealed, but without many candidates to consider, the Rams will have to come to a resolution to their search sooner than later.
January 27, 2015 at 3:00 pm #17488znModeratorThey say Hackett has a Coryell system.
So did Schott.
But I looked, and I don’t know why that gets said. I don’t know where he would have apprenticed that system. He was with Gruden in Tampa in 2006-7 and that’s of course a WCO. He was then with Buffalo from 2008-9 and that too was a WCO.
January 27, 2015 at 9:24 pm #17521znModeratorJim Thomas @jthom1
Just FYI, was told that second interview with Rams and Nathaniel Hackett did not take place today. But Rams are planning 2nd interview. . .
with Hackett for OC job and it may take place later this week.
January 28, 2015 at 11:30 am #17581
wvParticipantJim Thomas @jthom1
Just FYI, was told that second interview with Rams and Nathaniel Hackett did not take place today. But Rams are planning 2nd interview. . . .with Hackett for OC job and it may take place later this week. -
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