Packers announce hiring of Bisaccia as special teams coordinator

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - The Packers officially announced the hiring of Rich Bisaccia as their next special teams coordinator on Tuesday.

Bisaccia was most recently the Raiders’ interim head coach after starting the 2021 season as the special teams coordinator in Las Vegas.

Bisaccia brings 38 years of coaching experience to the Packers, including 20 seasons in the NFL as a special teams coordinator with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders (2018-21), Dallas Cowboys (2013-17), San Diego Chargers (2011-12) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002-10). Bisaccia had been promoted to interim head coach for Las Vegas on Oct. 11 and led the Raiders to their first postseason appearance since 2017. Overall, he has held the title of associate head coach or assistant head coach for 11 years in the NFL, including each of the last seven seasons.

In Bisaccia’s five seasons with the Cowboys, he helped the special teams rank No. 5 in kickoff return average (24.2) after Dallas ranked No. 29 in 2012. Over his two years in San Diego, the Chargers ranked No. 13 in net punting average (39.4) after being last in the league in the category (28.7) in 2010. Bisaccia helped Tampa Bay win Super Bowl XXXVII in his first season as an NFL coach and guided three players to Pro Bowl honors (P Josh Bidwell, LS Dave Moore and KR Clifton Smith) in addition to 13 NFC Player of the Week awards and four NFC Player of the Month awards during his time with the Buccaneers.

Prior to entering the NFL coaching ranks in 2002, Bisaccia spent 19 seasons coaching at the collegiate level with stops at the University of Mississippi (1999-2001), Clemson University (1994-98), the University of South Carolina (1988-93) and Wayne State University (1983-87). A native of Yonkers, N.Y., Bisaccia attended Yankton College in South Dakota from 1979-1982 and was a four-year starter at defensive back.

Bisaccia led Las Vegas to a 7-5 finish after being named interim head coach last season, earning a playoff appearance. The Raiders would eventually fall to Cincinnati in the Wild Card round, and hire Josh McDaniels as their new head coach.

With 20 seasons of experience as a special teams coordinator , Bisaccia is among the most experienced assistant coaches available on the market. He also has more NFL experience than his predecessors Shawn Menenga and Maurice Drayton.

Drayton was fired last week by the Packers after special teams miscues contributed to Green Bay’s divisional round loss to San Francisco. The Packers also finished the season ranked among the worst in the NFL. Coming in at 31st in field goals made, 29th in opponent kickoff return yards, and 32nd in punt coverage yards.

Bisaccia will be come the third special teams coordinator hired by Matt LaFleur since taking over as head coach in 2019.

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