Broncos next head coach needs to be opposite of Hackett in three big ways

Former Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett didn’t do much right.

His 4-11 record and getting fired after just 15 games were both proof of that. The massacre on Christmas Day in Los Angeles was the final nail in the coffin. Hackett just wasn’t very good at his job.

During “The Player’s Club” on 104.3 The Fan on Friday morning, the hosts discussed what they want from the next head coach. And all of it sounded like exactly the opposite of what Hackett did. Chad Brown, Orlando Franklin and Nate Jackson served up some stellar suggestions. It starts with simply working harder.

“They need to reset their hard-work meter, because if they thought that was hard work, then they’re sadly mistaken. If you think that’s the maximum you’ve got in you, if you think that’s going to get you where you need to go, you’re sadly mistaken. Whoever this coach is that comes in needs to be able to reset that and have these guys understand there is more within them that they can do,” Brown said.

Brown is talking about training camp, where “Camp Hackett” featured a “jog-through” every third day and light practices when the guys were going “full speed.” Even during the regular season, it’s unclear how much work the Broncos were putting in.

“All teams I was on that sucked, dudes cut corners all the time. And it showed up all the time. I’ve never been on a bad football team where I looked around and was like ‘man, everyone’s doing what they’re supposed to be doing.’ No, never. And when I was on good football teams, everyone worked hard,” Brown said.

Franklin thinks the standard wasn’t set high enough in Broncos Country this year. It’s a team with three Super Bowls, and until recently, almost always in the mix for the playoffs. Denver has to get back to that mindset.

“For me, it’s going to be expectations. The next head coach has to re-establish the expectations for the Denver Broncos. The expectation is to be a double-digit win team,” Franklin said. “You have to have a clear cut culture and identity. It shouldn’t be that we’re going to get into these tough, 60-minutes battles. No, it should be we’re going to try to blow out teams.”

And for Jackson, the new head coach must find a way to unite the players. It was painfully obvious this season something critical was missing, and the results showed it, with a pitiful 5-12 record.

“The chemistry of this team, the chemistry in the locker room,” Jackson said. “Offensively, you sure can see it unfold in front of you. The chemistry isn’t there. Part of that is just the newness of these guys playing together for the first time. But I think part of it is the unusual occurrence of Russell Wilson coming into the building and doing things so drastically different.”

Wilson came in as not just a quarterback, but a celebrity quarterback. That’s okay if you’re winning. If you’re losing, it’s going to rub guys the wrong way. And things can go off the rails fast.

“Having a team of people who wear his gear on around the facility. Having an office, having a personal coach. Doing all the things that are, to me, fly in the face of traditional team building and cause guys who are football lifers having to adjust how they approach dealing with this individual, dealing with an offense, dealing with a chemistry of a team,” Jackson said.

To listen to full episodes of “The Player’s Club,” click here.

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