Packers will hire Rich Bisaccia as special teams coordinator, per report

For the first time in recent memory, the Green Bay Packers will have a special teams coordinator with a track record of success at the NFL level. On Monday morning, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that the Packers are expected to hire Rich Bisaccia to that position following the team’s courting of him over the past week.

The language of the report suggests that the deal is not yet finalized, but it appears that the Packers finally have their man to replace the fired Maurice Drayton.

Bisaccia’s resume as a special teams coordinator is unmatched by any other available candidate. He has 20 years of experience as an NFL special teams coordinator with another 12 years spent as an assistant head coach, and he was the Las Vegas Raiders’ interim head coach for most of the 2021 season. Bisaccia was also a serious candidate to earn the long-term head coaching job with the Raiders and was in the running for the Jacksonville Jaguars’ head coach position this offseason as well.

Instead, after missing out on those jobs, he will head to Green Bay to lead a unit that finished last in the league in every notable measure of special teams performance in 2021. The last time Bisaccia inherited a last-place special teams unit was 11 years ago, when he took over for the San Diego Chargers and turned them into a top-ten group in just two years.

Given other teams’ interest in Bisaccia as a head coach, the Packers likely will have to pay him a significant salary. However, given the high-profile failures of those units over the past seasons, team president Mark Murphy evidently has given his blessing to invest in a proven coach to turn the special teams around. The Packers’ coaching staff was in Las Vegas for the Pro Bowl the last few days, likely giving Matt LaFleur plenty of opportunity to talk with Bisaccia and work out the details of his contract. Look for an announcement to come from the Packers in the next few days.