Before the Denver Broncos played the Jacksonville Jaguars in London in Week 8, there was heavy speculation that coach Nathaniel Hackett could be fired during the team’s Week 9 bye if they didn’t manage to beat the Jags.
Denver did defeat Jacksonville, 21-17, and Hackett kept his job.
Two weeks after that win, the Broncos lost to the Tennessee Titans 17-10. Hackett again kept his job.
So what’s the situation going forward? If the team is going to make a change, are they just planning to wait until the offseason? Or is Hackett still in danger of being fired if the team has a losing streak?
The coach was asked during his Monday media availability if he feels that he’s coaching for his job, a question that seemed to subtly ask if Hackett feels like his next loss could be his last.
Hackett turned it into a more broad question.
“I learned a long time ago that you are coaching for your job every day,” the coach said. “Every single day you come in that building, you compete, and you fight to be the best version of yourself and try to bring the best out of everybody around you. That is just how this is, and that is how I’ve always known it is. When it comes to the family, I love them. They know what we got into. This is part of it. I have been doing this my whole life. Since I was born, it’s been going on.
“Like I said, you are always coaching for your life. To me, it’s not about me, though. It has nothing to do with me. It has to do with this team, it has to do with these coaches, and it has to do with all of us coming together to find a way to win a football game that’s on Sunday. We have to come together as a group. I’m secondary. It’s about all of us uniting and coming together and beating the Raiders.”
Hackett’s first step toward saving his job could be defeating the Raiders at home on Sunday. A loss would drop the team to 3-7, which would only increase speculation about the coach’s future. With his job potentially on the line, Hackett will feel added pressure for every remaining game this year.
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