Fired Jaguars OC says ‘football Gods had it out for me’
The Jacksonville Jaguars fired their offensive coordinator on Monday in the wake of their seventh consecutive loss, and it sounds like the coach believes he became a scapegoat for a team that has underperformed and been dealt a bad hand.
Nathaniel Hackett told Ian Rapoport of NFL Media that it was a “shock” when head coach Doug Marrone informed him he was being let go. He said he thought Marrone had called a meeting with him to discuss benching Blake Bortles.
Spoke with ex-#Jags OC Nate Hackett, who thought he was being called in to discuss a QB change. Instead he was out. “It wasn’t anything negative, (Marrone) just decided to make a move. I guess he didn’t think I was good enough, that’s the only thing I can think of. It’s a shock."
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 26, 2018
“I knew Doug had thought about it. I guess the football Gods had it out for me. We started off hot, had so many injuries, we were a completely different team. Guys busted their butts, but you can only do so much. I wish I could’ve figured something out.” — Nathaniel Hackett.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 26, 2018
Marrone will likely take on a bigger role with Jacksonville’s offense down the stretch, and the decision to fire Hackett may have been more about the head coach saving his own job. While a report from Sunday indicated Marrone is not going to be fired, it’s hard to ignore the complete tailspin the Jaguars have gone into since their 3-1 start.
Jacksonville ranks 28th in the NFL this season with just 17.9 points per game, so firing the person in charge of the team’s offense was a logical place to start. We’ve already heard rumblings about the Jags potentially trading one of their best players after the season, which likely means more changes are coming.