Nathaniel Hackett takes Cardinals OC job for Mike LaFleur

Earlier this offseason, former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who served as a defensive analyst for the team in 2025, agreed to become the quarterbacks coach of the Miami Dolphins, which was taken over by former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. Now, there will be a pivot in Hackett’s career, as he’s accepted the offensive coordinator job with the Arizona Cardinals, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The Cardinals hired Mike LaFleur, brother of Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur, to be their head coach on Sunday. Interestingly, Mike was actually replaced by Hackett in 2022, when Robert Saleh, whose best man in his wedding was Matt, made a switch at offensive coordinator as the head coach of the New York Jets. After LaFleur was let go in New York, he joined Sean McVay, another coach who comes from the Kyle Shanahan tree, with the Los Angeles Rams as their non-play-calling offensive coordinator.

Yes, the NFL coaching cycle has never been more incestuous. Just because teams are pulling the trigger faster now, with ownership now having more of an appetite to eat multi-year and multi-million-dollar buyouts, doesn’t mean that any new coaching trees are growing.

The younger LaFleur will be the play-caller in Arizona, meaning that Hackett will serve in a non-play-calling role as he did in Green Bay under the elder LaFleur. Both LaFleur and Hackett were play-callers with the Jets, the last time either has called plays at the NFL level.

So far, the only change to the Packers’ offensive roster this offseason has been that quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion left to be the play-calling offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles. The only interview that we know the Packers have had with a potential Mannion replacement is Connor Senger, who received three promotions in the three years that new Green Bay defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon was the head coach of the Cardinals. Senger is also up for the offensive coordinator job with the Chicago Bears and the quarterbacks coach job with the Eagles, under Mannion. Funny enough, both Senger and Mannion were the offensive coordinators of the two teams that went head-to-head in the Shrine Bowl, a college all-star game played last month.