GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Former Denver Broncos head coach and New York Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett is resetting his coaching career with an unfamiliar role in a familiar place.
Hackett, the Packers’ offensive coordinator from 2019-21, is back in Green Bay. But this time he’s working with Green Bay’s defense in an advisory capacity.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, who has used this strategy before, said Hackett would be in and out of Green Bay throughout the year. Longtime defensive assistant Robert Saleh advised Green Bay's offense last year after he got fired as the Jets’ head coach midway through the season.
LaFleur remembered how a similar plan worked when he was Atlanta's quarterbacks coach in 2016. That year, Raheem Morris started coaching the Falcons’ receivers after having spent his entire NFL career up to that point as a defensive assistant. Morris now is the Falcons’ head coach.
“I just think it’s a fresh perspective,” LaFleur said. “When you take a defensive guy and put them on offense and vice versa, an offensive guy on defense, it gives you a little different lens to see it through and talk through.”
By having coaches work on the opposite side of the ball from their traditional background, LaFleur has added a twist to a common NFL staffing strategy. Teams across the league have hired former head coaches or coordinators to positions that don’t necessarily rise to the ranks of position coaches or coordinators.
The teams making these moves add more head coaching experience to their staffs, while the ex-head coaches get a chance to stay in the league as they ponder their next step. For instance, after working with the Packers’ offense last year, Saleh has returned to his usual side of the ball as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator.
Saleh said he provided a different perspective on the offense during his time in Green Bay by offering his thoughts on what might or might not work against a particular defense.
“I joke with Matt, I think it was more therapy for me than I was a help for him,” Saleh said.
New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said he benefited from spending the 2024 season as a consultant with the Cleveland Browns after the end of his six-year stint coaching the Tennessee Titans. Vrabel, who went 54-45 at Tennessee, was fired at the end of the 2023 season.
Vrabel said the experience helped him realize how much he missed the opportunity to lead his own team and put a staff together. It also enabled him to get his focus back on teaching and developing.
“Really enjoyed getting to know those players and teaching them and helping the staff, helping the young coaches,” Vrabel said during his introductory news conference with the Patriots. “It just reminded me of not forgetting all the small, little details that are critical in coaching and teaching.”
Staffs around the NFL feature ex-head coaches in a variety of different roles.
The 49ers’ current assistant head coach is former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley, who was fired as the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator at the end of last season.
Having that extra experience on staff can prove particularly useful for a first-time head coach.
Tennessee’s Brian Callahan was preparing for the second season of his tenure when he added Mike McCoy to his staff as a senior offensive assistant this year. McCoy coached the San Diego Chargers from 2013-16 and spent six years as an NFL offensive coordinator, though he most recently was a quarterbacks coach for the Jaguars.
“For a guy that’s had the experiences that he’s had, been a head coach and all those things, and for him to come in and the role he’s in with the humility to take on the role and just want to help,” Callahan said. “He just loves football, wants to be around, and wants to lend a helping hand wherever he can help us, at the end of the day.”
When Dave Canales took over at Carolina last year, he brought in former head coaches Dom Capers as a senior defensive assistant and Jim Caldwell as a senior coaching advisor. Canales said it's been invaluable to get their feedback on various situations that could come up on or off the field.
“I can go down and ask and say, ‘Hey, did you ever experience something like this? How did you handle it?'" Canales said. “And (I can) be able to take all that information and try to make the best decision possible."
Yet, the Green Bay cases may be the most intriguing examples because the Packers had a defensive coach assisting the offense and now an offensive coach helping the defense.
Green Bay defensive tackle Kenny Clark said the Packers’ defense should benefit from Hackett’s presence. Clark said Hackett can explain how an offense might react to whatever a defense might try.
“As we all know, all these coaches know each other, a bunch of coaching trees and all that kind of stuff, so they all run a lot of the same stuff,” Clark said. “Just being able to bounce ideas off each other, just telling Haf (defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley) what they’d do in a situation on third-and-4 or second-and-10, how they might attack that situation, I think it helps.”
The move could help provide a reboot for Hackett, who lost his play-calling responsibilities with the Jets late in the 2024 season after lasting just 15 games as Denver’s head coach in 2023.
Saleh said he appreciated his brief time helping Green Bay’s offense last year.
“I’m, again, forever grateful for Matty for opening the door to his building and allowing me the opportunity to work there,” Saleh said. “Just because from a mental space, it was, like I said, more therapeutic than anything for me.”
AP Pro Football Writers Josh Dubow and Teresa Walker and AP Sports Writers Will Graves and Steve Reed contributed to this report.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
FILE - Cleveland Browns coaching and personnel consultant Mike Vrabel, left, stands on the field before an NFL preseason football game against the Green Bay Packers, Aug. 10, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump was booed loudly by fans inside Madison Square Garden when he was shown on video screens during the national anthem as he became the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game.
Chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” echoed through the arena as Avery Wilson sang “The Star-Spangled Banner," but they they gave way to boos moments later as Trump was displayed on the jumbo screens giving a military salute. The jeers ended when the U.S. flag followed him on the screens, and fans cheered when New York Knicks players were shown. Mentions of the San Antonio Spurs also elicited vociferous boos.
The president was unfazed. “It was, I think, mostly cheers,” he told reporters after the game before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington. “It was loud, and it was very enthusiastic.”
Trump watched Game 3 from Knicks owner James Dolan’s suite, along with granddaughter Kai, personal adviser Boris Epshteyn and Cabinet secretaries Lee Zeldin, Sean Duffy and Doug Burgum. He sat next to Dolan for the first quarter and spent part of the second talking to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Blakeman.
Trump’s Marine One helicopter flew from his home in New Jersey and landed near Wall Street before his motorcade made its way up through Manhattan and to the arena roughly an hour before tipoff. He encountered a handful of people making rude gestures, and outside the area, one group held signs saying “Trump must go.”
He settled into Dolan's suite shortly afterward.
During the afternoon before Trump's arrival, the New York Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service set up a large perimeter surrounding Madison Square Garden. Fans lined up to get inside the arena more than four hours before tipoff, in a scene more closely resembling New Year’s Eve in Times Square than the usual leadup to a basketball game.
They were required to provide a ticket or pass to get past various checkpoints, along with going through a Transportation Security Administration-style magnetometer. Secret Service personnel and police were positioned at every corner and in large numbers. Daily commuters, tourists visiting Manhattan and fans were all confounded at various times as they tried to maneuver the security.
After traveling from his home in Florida for the game, Knicks fan Greg Weldon said the main inconvenience faced so far has been the lack of information.
“We’ve asked so many cops, secret service, guys with machine guns, what to do, where should we go,” he said. “Nobody knows.”
Knicks coach Mike Brown and Spurs counterpart Mitch Johnson downplayed any concept of being inconvenienced by the closures and enhanced security because of Trump.
“There’s a lot going on, and I’d much rather be a part of it than not,” Johnson said.
With security stepped up, a watch party outside was canceled, and ticket-holders were not allowed to bring bags inside the Garden. Fans had gathered near the arena to watch games during this playoff run, during which the Knicks have won 13 games in a row to reach the final for the first time since 1999 and move two victories from their first NBA title since 1973.
“We are looking forward to bringing back watch parties for Game 4,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference Monday. "But I think New Yorkers are used to presidents coming to town, and they understand that that generally means lockdowns of areas and that’s what you’re going to see tonight at the Garden.”
The Knicks’ streak was broken Monday night, with the Spurs winning 115-111. Game 4 will be played Wednesday night at the Garden.
This is the latest major sporting event Trump has attended during his time as president, and the security measures have created major hassles for fans.
Thousands of fans missed the start of last year’s U.S. Open men’s singles final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner because of lengthy security lines. Even though the U.S. Tennis Association pushed back the start of the match by a half-hour, many fans still couldn’t get in because added measures meant that they had to go through screening not only when they arrived at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center but again in front of the steps into Arthur Ashe Stadium, where Trump watched from a suite.
Federal law enforcement officials have been reexamining Trump’s security in light of three incidents in the past two years: a shooting at a 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania; the discovery of a man armed with a rifle as Trump played golf in West Palm Beach, Florida, later that year; and the recent shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
Asked Sunday his thoughts on Trump attending, Knicks center Mitchell Robinson said: “Cool, I guess. We can still get out there and play (no matter) who’s here and who’s not.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other dignitaries were also at the game, as were Yankees Hall of Famer Derek Jeter and two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Eli Manning of the Giants.
It was already hard enough for Knicks fans to get inside Madison Square Garden because of astronomical ticket prices. The get-in price for a ticket is higher than the average cost of monthly rent in New York, surging over $5,000.
The best seats were listed for tens of thousands of dollars. Mamdani said he bought his ticket, which he said was standing-room-only, for about $1,000 directly from Madison Square Garden.
The difficulty of seeing the game in-person has prompted fans to crowd bars, streets and watch parties all over the city. The watch party near the Garden has become a major event all through the playoffs, but with Trump attending, that event was moved a few blocks away outside the security perimeter, at Bryant Park.
“We improvise,” said Knicks guard Jose Alvarado, who is a New York native. "We're New Yorkers. We’re going to find a way to watch a game, and that’s what we’re doing.”
AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this report.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
President Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, early Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump talks with Knicks owner James Dolan during Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
U.S. Secret Service agents and a U.S. Marine brace against the downdraft as a support helicopter lands before Marine One with President Donald Trump aboard, at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport at Pier 6 in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump gestures during the National Anthem as he attends an NBA Finals playoff basketball game between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026, with Kai Trump, left. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump gestures during the National Anthem as he attends an NBA Finals playoff basketball game between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026, with Kai Trump, left, Knicks owner James Dolan and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, right. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
NYPD officers escort the motorcade of President Donald Trump outside of Madison Square Garden ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
New York Knicks fans wait in line to enter Madison Square Garden ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Monday, June 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Madison Square Garden ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Monday, June 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Secret Service agents stand guard in front of Madison Square Garden ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Monday, June 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
The motorcade of President Donald Trump arrives to Madison Square Garden ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
A Secret Service agent stands watch outside Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026, as President Donald Trump is set to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
Security fencing is set up outside of Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026, as President Donald Trump is set to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
Security is set up outside of Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026, as President Donald Trump is set to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
FILE - President Donald Trump, center, attends the men's singles final at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Sept. 7, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
A traveler tries to navigate the area as stringent security measures are set up outside of Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026, as President Donald Trump is set to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
FILE - Donald Trump, right, talks to an unidentified man from the stands at Madison Square Garden during the New York Knicks game against the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 11, 2006, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
President Donald Trump speaks at Custer Farms in Chippewa Falls, Wis., Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Glen Stubbe)
