Broncos HC Hackett Explains How Aaron Rodgers Relationship Will Impact Russell Wilson

Nathaniel Hackett has never been a head coach in the NFL, but he believes his experience as Aaron Rodgers' offensive coordinator when he was with the Green Bay Packers will help him as the new coach of the Denver Broncos.

Especially since he will be coaching another one of the league's best quarterbacks in Russell Wilson.

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated shared Hackett's comments about taking what he learned from Rodgers and applying it to working with Wilson:

"What my dad has always talked about, it's a 'can't stop me' mentality; you have to find that and give it to the quarterback. Aaron taught me that you have to respect and listen to what he has to say, because of how much he’s accomplished in what he's done before he was with me. Whether I believed in it or not, you have to be sure, what a great quarterback does, that you respect that. You have to understand that they see things, they're out there, and you have to find out what they see, you have to learn what they see."

"I think the fun thing about working with Aaron—and our relationship was really strong early—was that I was able to talk with him and hear from him and learn about him. That's the thing I'm so excited about with Russell now. Russell, I want him to open up. I want to understand what he's looking at, I want to understand what he's thinking, I want to know why he's doing something."

The Rodgers and Hackett pairing, which the latter called "a pure partnership," led to plenty of success in Green Bay.

The Packers won the NFC North in each of Hackett's three seasons as the offensive coordinator and reached the NFC Championship Game twice in that span. While the team fell short of reaching a Super Bowl, Rodgers reaffirmed his greatness even in what could be the latter stages of the 38-year-old's career.

He won back-to-back league MVPs in 2020 and 2021 and led the NFL in completion percentage (70.7) and passing touchdowns (48) in 2020.

Rodgers was already a future Hall of Famer even before Hackett arrived from previous stints with the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars, but he was able to build on his skills and further cement his legacy with impressive individual campaigns.

Denver surely hopes the same formula works for Wilson.

Wilson's resume includes a Super Bowl title and nine Pro Bowl selections from his time with the Seattle Seahawks. He already reached the highest level of the sport but is starting a new chapter with a Broncos franchise that has been searching for an answer at quarterback since Peyton Manning retired.

The partnership with Hackett will go a long way toward determining the overall level of success in that chapter, and the new head coach has a blueprint in place that he will look to use in 2022.