`PROFESSOR' A REAL PRO FORMER USC COACH HACKETT BACK IN COMFORT ZONE OF NFL.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

Qualcomm Stadium was finally rocking Sunday. The Chargers had just scored twice to trim a 20-point deficit to six and the crowd - with Guns N Roses' ``Welcome to the Jungle'' blaring - was on its feet, roaring for the defense to get the ball back.

The New York Jets settled in at their own 30-yard line with 7:33 left to play, momentum and the game slipping away.

On the first play, reserve halfback LaMont Jordan - split wide to the right - caught a quick pass behind the line from Chad Pennington and gained 5 yards. On the next play, Pennington hit fullback Jerald Sowell for 8 yards off a play-action fake. Halfback Curtis Martin then carried for 6 yards.

Next, with eight Chargers near the line, Pennington lofted a high-arching pass to Santana Moss in single coverage, good for 48 yards to the Chargers' 3.

After Martin ran the ball to the 1, Pennington faked it to him again and found tight end Chris Baker wide open for a touchdown.

Ballgame.

Six plays, perfectly called, precisely executed - all with the game in the balance. It was the kind of performance most NFL coaches would revel in. But not Paul Hackett.

The architect of the NFL's highest-scoring offense, a man who has rarely looked at a silver lining without being able to find a cloud, was in no mood to talk. He waved off a reporter, saying he had nothing to say.

When asked why, Hackett hemmed and hawed, then offered his office phone number and said he'd speak the next day.

``The whole scene after a game, sometimes it's not the best time to talk,'' the former USC coach said Monday by phone. ``Tom Landry used to say, `Right after the game, say as little as possible.' He was a wise man.''

At age 57, The Professor is learning.

After being run out of Pittsburgh and Los Angeles as a college coach, booed out of Kansas City and crucified on the back pages of New York's tabloids as an offensive coordinator, Hackett has finally realized there are some battles he can't win.

So he no longer fights them.

If there are questions about his play calling, about his job status, about his relationship with his players, Hackett figures it does him little good to answer them. So nowadays he rarely talks to the media, win or lose.

``The honesty I've shown has caused some vulnerability,'' Hackett said. ``I've had a lot of success and I've had some rough years, but I love what I do. I love the whole scene of football.''

Professor of football

What Hackett loves most is teaching. The son of a Berkeley professor, he's always considered himself a professor of football, immersing himself in the minutiae of his field of study - the West Coast offense.

For example, Hackett will stress that if a quarterback doesn't get the proper depth on his first step away from center, it will have an impact on the throw. It might not result in an incomplete pass, but it might force the receiver to make a more difficult catch, which could mean the difference between a 3-yard gain and an 6-yard gain.

``He's almost like Rain Man when it comes to detail,'' said Martin, who has known Hackett since he played for him at the University of Pittsburgh. ``We're a young team. That detail is what we need. Without that, we wouldn't be doing what we're doing.''

What the Jets are doing now is leading the NFL in scoring (32.5 points per game). They are second in total offense (409 yards per game), have committed just one turnover and are off to a 2-0 start for only the second time in 10 years.

``The reason we're able to be successful as an offense is because he teaches the details,'' Pennington said. ``It's not just knowing what to do, but how exactly to do it. That's his commitment to detail and he trusts us to get the job done.

``He's always been that way. He's never changed. And even though he's received a lot of criticism, he doesn't care because he's always believed in us and he believes in himself.''

Thrown to the turf

The criticism is that his offense - with its myriad pre-snap shifts and extensive verbiage - too often results in 4 yards and a cloud of confusion.

In Kansas City, the Chiefs were 13-3 twice but were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round, scoring only one touchdown each time. A newspaper columnist launched a ``Can't Hackett'' campaign, calling for his firing.

In New York, the boos reached a crescendo at the end of last season when the Jets managed four offensive touchdowns in their final four games.

It capped a disappointing 6-10 season for the Jets, who after back-to- back playoff appearances, got off to a 2-6 start after Pennington broke his hand in an exhibition game.

``Last year was very painful,'' Hackett said. ``When you have a season like we had, sometimes you get muddled. In February and March, there was a real commitment to putting our best foot forward with Curtis and Chad, who are clearly our two playmakers.

``We had a chance to clear our mind, look at tape and evaluate who you are, who you have to beat in your division. You find yourself going back to your roots.''

The other difference, Hackett says, is experience. Pennington, whose mobility and accuracy are a natural fit for the offense, is in his third season as a starter. Tight end Anthony Becht, Moss and Sowell are in their fourth season with the offense. The line, anchored by All-Pro center Kevin Mawae and the addition of guard Pete Kendall, is one of the NFL's best.

Bumbling, grumbling, ...

The Hackett era, when the Trojans were 19-18, is a largely forgettable one, marked by bumbling football and grumbling boosters.

It is where for all of Hackett's attention to detail, he lost sight of the big picture.

When players had to make appointments to see him, it didn't show them responsible; it showed them he was stand-offish. When Hackett allowed for little input from his staff, they felt disenfranchised. When he didn't cozy up to boosters, there was little support when he didn't win.

The contrast with current USC coach Pete Carroll is stark.

``One of the saddest things of my sporting life is that it didn't work for him at 'SC,'' said former USC quarterback Paul McDonald, whom Hackett coached as an assistant at USC and with the Cleveland Browns. ``He's the best coach I ever had, but he's a very intense guy and maybe that just didn't work well with today's college athlete.

``Pete Carroll is demanding, too, but he's more loosey-goosey. Fans want to win first and feel good when they have an encounter. Pete makes you feel very good if you meet him. Paul has this intensity, this seriousness about the sport where you may not walk away from a conversation about him being happy.''

Four years removed, Hackett still calls himself a Trojans fan. He recruited many of the players who helped USC to a national championship last season - Matt Leinart, Keary Colbert, Jacob Rogers and Kenechi Udeze - along with Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer.

Though he wonders how it would have turned out if he'd been permitted to stay for the five years on his contract, he lauds Carroll and acknowledges that maybe he wasn't the right man for the job.

``Pro football is about Xs and Os and details, purely, all year round,'' said Hackett, who still harbors ambitions of becoming an NFL head coach. ``The personnel side is so much fun. There are no rules when you can go out and look at people, no rules about whether a kid can get a hamburger. It's just pure football.

``I was in a little bit of a conflict because I always saw myself as a professor, but that's something I've got to get over. It's hard for me to admit it, but it compromised my ability to be my best. Pro football is where I'm at home.''

Billy Witz, [phone]

billy.witz(at)dailynews.com

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A failed stint as head coach at USC taught Jets offensive coordinator Paul Hackett that being honest sometimes leads to vulnerability.

Kathy Willens/Associated Press