Broncos Players React To The Hiring Of Nathaniel Hackett
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4)- The Denver Broncos have a new head coach and Broncos players are weighing in on the new man in charge. Offensive lineman Dalton Risner and Lloyd Cushenberry expressed their excitement in the team's new head coach and faith in George Paton's decision.
"It's exciting. I know he's a great offensive coordinator and really it sounds cliché, but George Paton is our GM, that's our guy, that's who we have our full faith and trust in. We know that he took time, did a lot of interviews, a lot of flying back and forth. With all that time that he spent and me just knowing George for a year, I know I have confidence that he chose the right guy," Dalton Risner said. "He wants this organization to be back where we need it to be. And a head coach is certainly going to come in, like Nathaniel Hackett, and is going to make a big difference. I don't know the guy, I'm really excited to shake his hand. Excited to see what he's about. I think it's awesome he's a previous offensive coordinator. Our offense has a lot of strides that we need to make, so in my mind I think George made the best decision. I think we're going to roll. I'm really excited about the whole deal."
"I don't too much about him but he seems like a great young head coach. So I look forward to meeting him and getting more information on him. I think it was a good hire," Lloyd Cushenberry said. "Obviously Green Bay has a great offense every year. It's exciting. We got a lot of weapons over here in Denver. So we're going to see what we can do, and I think fans and all us players and everyone in the organization should be excited."
A new head coach will change how the offseason looks. The Broncos will have an extra week of OTA's per league rules. For players, it's more than just scheduling that changes.
"With this situation now, having a new head coach I haven't met, there's still a lot up in the air like, who's going to be our OC, who's going to be our DC, how many coaches will we retain from the previous Broncos staff? Mike Munchak, that's a guy that I want back. He's a hall of fame player in my mind, a hall of fame coach. He's helped me grow tremendously and I think you guys have seen how he's helped the offensive line and a lot of the other guys on the offensive line as well," Risner said. "I think it does change the offseason a lot. I think I'm going to be a lot more antsy to be wanting to be at the facility and meet these guys and see what's going to happen. But at the end of the day, we got a gem in George Paton. The dude knows what he's doing. I think you can all agree, the way he carries himself, we feel like he cares about the organization and he's going to make some big changes.
"I'm not really sure what to expect. Going into my third year, so this is all still very new to me. So we'll see what happens when we get to OTAs and who we keep on our staff. But I think the front office is doing a great job of getting the right people in, so we gotta trust in that," Cushenberry said.
One thing is certain, the players are excited about the possibilities with Hackett, especially on offense.
"Especially because he's a young guy, he's been around a lot of great players. We have a lot of explosion on our offense, so we should be excited," Cushenberry said.
