Nathaniel Can Hack It For Syracuse Offense

Doug Marrone has fired his first assistant coach of the season.  Himself.

After spending the off-season planning to call all the offensive plays en lieu of an offensive coordinator, Marrone is handing off play-calling duties to QB coach Nathaniel Hackett.

"In the spring, I called some of the plays and Nathaniel called some of the plays...I feel I have someone who can call the game...I feel very, very comfortable, because I’ve been through a spring with him...

Before coming to the Orange, Hackett spent the last four seasons as an Offensive Quality Control Coach for the Bills and Bucs, whatever the hell that is. 

Often, a quality control coach is new to the coaching business. They do not coach a specific position but have several other responsibilities. Among those duties are breaking down film of upcoming opponents, scouting those opponents, and acting as an assistant during practices.

Fair enough.  As for whether or not Hackett will be named offensive coordinator, Marrone is hesitant.

Marrone wasn’t ready to confer that title, but he did smile when the prospect was mentioned.

"He’s a bright guy," he said of Hackett.

In other words, let's see how many points we score against Akron before we go around conferring titles.