New Denver Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett 'excited' to get to work fixing team's offensive struggles

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Amped up and ready to start the hunt for touchdowns, Nathaniel Hackett was formally introduced Friday as the Denver Broncos' 18th head coach in franchise history.

Hackett, who'd been the Green Bay Packers' offensive coordinator for the past three seasons, called his hiring «a dream.»

The 42-year-old arrives as the Broncos have had one of the league's most unreliable and inconsistent offenses over six consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance.

«Any offense that you have, it has to be maneuverable, has to be adjustable for who you have on our team,'' Hackett said. »… You want to make the defense cover the entire field and you've got to take shots down the field. Let's face it: That's what the people in the stands love. I remember watching John Elway… this is really where this system kind of evolved from and was created."

Broncos general manager George Paton was quick to shoot down the early theory that Hackett had been hired to give the Broncos a better chance to lure Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to Denver if the three-time NFL MVP happened to be on the trade market in the coming months.

«Absolutely not,» Paton quickly said when asked if Rodgers had anything to do with Hackett's hire.

One of the first orders of business for Hackett will be to kick-start an offense that has been one of the league's worst in recent years. The Broncos have not averaged more than 23 points per game since 2014.

«These [playoff] offenses are dynamic, and we have a long way to go in that capacity. We need to get better on offense. We need to score a lot more points,'' Paton said. „We need to be more explosive… but we also need to be better on special teams and we don't want to take a step back on defense.“

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