Because the Denver Broncos have a new head coach in former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, they can begin their offseason program on Monday.
Of course, Hackett wasn’t Denver’s biggest offseason acquisition, as the Broncos obtained one-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks in a stunning trade last month. According to ESPN’s Jeff Legwold, Hackett spoke with reporters about getting Wilson accustomed to his new football home as soon as possible during the league’s annual meetings.
“It’s critical to ensure that he’s at ease in whatever he does,” Hackett said of Wilson. “Everything matters, from the cadence to the way you simply name a play, because when 80,000 people are shouting at you, you want it to feel natural. We do many of the same things [as Wilson did with the Seahawks]. It’s only a matter of learning how to communicate in that language.”
This isn’t Hackett’s first foray into the realm of metaphor. During Matt LaFleur’s first year as Packers head coach in 2019, he was Green Bay’s coordinator. He learned a lot from studying LaFleur’s encounters and interactions with four-time NFL Most Valuable Player Aaron Rodgers.
“A lot of what Matt and I did when we initially arrived was like that,” Hackett added. “It’s like that whole process of weighing what I want to accomplish as a coach against what the quarterback wants. We did the same thing with Aaron. We had a lot of excellent discussions among the three of us about what was the proper thing to do, what was better for us, and what was better for him. It was incredible to go through that process with a veteran quarterback like Matt and witness it all unfold.”
Wilson has spoken with Peyton Manning several times regarding Manning’s transition to the Broncos in 2012, following his time with the Indianapolis Colts from the 1998 NFL Draft to the 2011 season. Wilson, 33, played his first ten professional seasons with the Seahawks.
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