Bills Ex Coach Nathaniel Hackett Fired by Broncos, Joins Dubious Club

Hackett, who had two separate assistant stints with the Buffalo Bills, was relieved of his duties by the Denver Broncos on Monday.

The Buffalo Bills' coaching tree lost a leaf on Monday. 

Former assistant coach Nathaniel Hackett was removed from his post as the head coach of the Denver Broncos, his redundancy coming mere hours after he was on the wrong end of a 51-14 shellacking at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday evening. Senior assistant Jerry Rosburg will take over for the eliminated Broncos' final two games of the season, starting with Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs (1 p.m. ET, CBS). 

Hackett's head coaching opportunity came eight seasons after his last season in Buffalo, where he spent four years in two separate stints as an offensive assistant, the latter half coming as an offensive coordinator. He was an offensive quality control coach for two years (2008-09) before a sojourn in the college game with Syracuse. A return to Buffalo came in 2013, this time serving as the offensive coordinator. Under the first year of his watch, the Bills' run game (featuring Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller) was second-best in the NFL. Further assistant roles in Jacksonville and Green Bay eventually yielded the top duties in Denver.

With his firing, Hackett joins one of the more exclusive if not dubious clubs in NFL history, now standing as one of five coaches who did not complete their first season wearing the top headset of an NFL team. Lou Holtz (1970, New York Jets) and Bobby Petrino (2007, Atlanta) each resigned to college jobs while Hackett joins the ranks of the fired like Pete McCulley (1978, San Francisco) and Urban Meyer (2021, Jacksonville).

Buffalo (12-3) might need the Denver protégés Hackett left behind to come through for them. Should Kansas City (12-3) fall to Denver and Buffalo win its own Monday night contest in Cincinnati (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC), the Bills would clinch the top seed on the AFC playoff bracket and the first-round bye that comes with it. 

---

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

Thanks for reading our SI-powered coverage of your Buffalo Bills ... Bills Mafia! Get your Buffalo game tickets from SI Tickets ... here!

You're a member of Bills Mafia hungry for more Buffalo coverage? Read here.