JACKSONVILLE – Nathaniel Hackett will remain the Jaguars' offensive coordinator.
Hackett, who spent the last nine games of the 2016 season as the Jaguars' offensive coordinator, will remain in the position, the club announced Wednesday evening.
Hackett, 37, had served as the Jaguars' quarterbacks coach in 2015 and in the first seven games of the 2016 season before replacing Greg Olson as coordinator in October of this past season.
This will be the third time Hackett has served as offensive coordinator for Doug Marrone, who was announced last week as the Jaguars' permanent head coach after serving as the interim head coach for the last two games of the 2016 season. Marrone previously had served as the team's assistant head coach-offense/offensive line since 2015.
"We are excited to announce Nathaniel Hackett as our offensive coordinator and he will immediately be tasked with installing and implementing our offense this offseason," Marrone said in a statement. "I have had the pleasure of working with Nathaniel for seven consecutive seasons and know firsthand how knowledgeable and passionate he is about winning."
Hackett served as offensive coordinator when Marrone was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 2012-2013 and under Marrone at Syracuse University in 2011-2012.
The Jaguars finished this past season ranked 23rd in the NFL in total yards in points. Hackett's offenses were ranked 19th in yards in 2013 and 26th in 2014, finishing 22nd and 18th in the NFL in points in those seasons. The Bills ranked second in the NFL in rushing in 2013.
The jaguars improved their rankings under Hackett this past season in several categories including: time of possession (30th to 13th), goal-to-go efficiency (15th to fourth) and red-zone efficiency (16th to fifth). The Jaguars rushing attack also improved under Hackett from 30th in yards (72.6) to fifth (124.8) in rushing yards per game, 26th (3.79) to 13th (4.35) in yards per rush and from 32nd (38) to first (112) in rushes of four-plus yards.
"After taking over as the play-caller in 2016, the offensive unit made a significant jump under the direction of Nathaniel Hackett," Jaguars Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tom Coughlin said in a statement Wednesday. "Nathaniel comes from a coaching family and is truly ardent about the game of football, which is contagious to his players and the assistants. He has a long history of working alongside Coach Marrone and we are fortunate to have him on our coaching staff."
Hackett's father, Paul, was an assistant and head coach at the collegiate level and served as head coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 1989-1992 and at the University of Southern California from 1998-2002. He long has been respected as an innovative offensive coach.
Hackett became the sixth coach officially named to Marrone's staff in the last six days.
The Jaguars officially named Joe DeCamillis special teams coordinator Friday, and named Todd Wash the defensive coordinator Saturday morning. The team also announced the hirings of offensive line coach Pat Flaherty and secondary coach Perry Fewell on Saturday. They announced Tyrone Wheatley as running backs coach on Monday.
