Bisaccia steps down as Packers' special teams coordinator
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Rich Bisaccia has stepped down as the Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator after four seasons.
Bisaccia said Tuesday in a statement released by the team that he had made the decision “after taking some time to reflect over the last few weeks.”
The Packers’ season ended Jan. 10 with a 31-27 loss to the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round of the NFC playoffs.
Bisaccia, 65, joined Packers coach Matt LaFleur’s staff after going 7-6 as Las Vegas’ interim head coach in 2021 and helping the Raiders reach the playoffs that season. Bisaccia added the title of assistant head coach in March 2023.
Bisaccia was the Packers third special teams coordinator in as many years when he got to Green Bay.
The Packers were hoping Bisaccia could fix Green Bay’s history of special teams issues, a trend that began well before LaFleur’s tenure started in 2019.
He had mixed results in that regard.
Keisean Nixon followed Bisaccia to Green Bay from Las Vegas and earned All-Pro honors as a kick returner in 2022 and 2023. This season, Daniel Whelen became the first Packer to lead the NFL in gross punting average since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
Yet Green Bay also had some notable special teams breakdowns the past few years, making Bisaccia a major target for criticism among Packers fans.
With the NFC North lead at stake, the Packers fell 22-16 in overtime at Chicago on Dec. 20 after the Bears recovered an onside kick to set up the tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter. In Green Bay’s playoff loss at Chicago, Brandon McManus went 0 for 2 on field-goal attempts and missed an extra point.
Before coming to Green Bay, Bisaccia had worked as a special teams coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002-10), San Diego Chargers (2011-12), Dallas Cowboys (2013-17) and Raiders (2018-21).
“While we are disappointed to lose a person and coach as valuable as Rich, we respect his decision to step down from the Packers,” LaFleur said in a statement.
“Rich was a tremendous resource to me and our entire coaching staff who had a profound impact on our players and our culture throughout the building. We can’t thank him enough for his contributions to our team over the last four years. We wish Rich, his wife, Jeanne, and the rest of their family all the best moving forward.”
Bisaccia’s decision means the Packers will have a new special teams coordinator as well as a defensive coordinator for the 2026 season. The Packers hired former Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon as their defensive coordinator to take over for Jeff Hafley, who left after two seasons to become the Miami Dolphins head coach.
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