Denver Broncos part ways with rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett after 15 games

The Denver Broncos announced Monday they have fired rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett before the end of his disastrous first season. 

Hackett, 43, coached 15 games with the Broncos, finishing with four wins and eleven losses. His team carried playoff expectations into the season after acquiring Super Bowl champion quarterback Russell Wilson in a blockbuster trade in the offseason. 

However, Wilson and the team have not lived up to those expectations, and tempers have flared in public. After a 51-14 blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas Day, Broncos owner George Penner and general manager George Paton decided to move on without Hackett, with two games remaining on the schedule.