GREEN BAY, Wis. — Perhaps no phase of the Green Bay Packers' operations has been under more of a microscope—and, subsequently, more scrutiny—than special teams.
An opportunity to start fresh and potentially even rewrite the narrative about special teams in Green Bay is on the horizon. On Tuesday night, the team announced that Rich Bisaccia, who has served as the Packers' special teams coordinator since 2022 and assistant head coach to Matt LaFleur since 2023, is stepping down from his role.
Both LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst have all spoken glowingly about Bisaccia, whether it be as a coach or an elder statesman within the building that players have immense respect for. Unfortunately, Bisaccia's unit has been trending in the opposite direction—though, the same can be said for several of his predecessors—and his place on the hierarchy can only carry so much weight. A change was necessary, but it never appeared to be imminent; LaFleur always spoke as if he was content keeping Bisaccia on the coaching staff into 2026.
Now, past February's halfway point, LaFleur has a challenge ahead of him in finding Bisaccia's replacement. This year's coaching cycle is virtually completed and all of the top candidates already have new jobs. That includes Byron Storer, who became the Cleveland Browns' special teams coordinator last week after serving as Bisaccia's assistant for all four seasons in Green Bay.
Rich Bisaccia was promoted to assistant head coach in 2023 while continuing to oversee special teams. (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
"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 released by the team. "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."
The Packers have consistently hovered in the bottom-third region of the league when it comes to special teams performance, no matter the aspect. That never truly changed under Bisaccia's watch, and whether or not that's an indictment of the coordinator or an organization-wide philosophy is a conversation for another day. However, the song and dance remained the same for the Packers, whether it was Maurice Drayton, Shawn Mennenga, Ron Zook or Shawn Slocum leading the charge—it's difficult not to be at least a little pessimistic that much will change on that front. Mennenga was the first special teams coordinator that LaFleur hired when he became the Packers' head coach in 2019, meaning he'll now be looking for his fourth in eight years.
Ever since the departure of Mason Crosby following the conclusion of the 2022 campaign, the Packers have failed to successfully replace him with a consistent placekicker. They took a swing—and a miss—on Anders Carlson in the draft before signing veteran leg Brandon McManus in 2024. For the most part, McManus, who was 33 at the time of the signing, appeared to be a hit. He made 2o of his 21 attempts from the field in his first season with the Packers, but those numbers drastically shifted this past year. He was 24-of-30 on his field goal attempts in the regular season, and all six misses came from beyond 40 yards. He also missed a pair of kicks—again, from beyond 40 yards—in the Packers' Wild Card loss to the Chicago Bears.
Rich Bisaccia gestures to players in a game against the Panthers on Nov. 2. (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
It's not all gloom and doom, though. Irish-born punter Daniel Whelan has blossomed into a top player at his position and led the league in average yards per punt last season, which marked his third with the team. He's fresh off signing a two-year extension with the Packers last September. Also, before becoming the Packers' No. 1 cornerback, Keisean Nixon was a First-team All-Pro return man and led the league in return yardage in back-to-back seasons.
It's unclear if the 65-year-old Bisaccia will take a year off from coaching or entertain other opportunities. In the Packers' statement, Bisaccia said that he took time to reflect on his future after the conclusion of the season.
"I am incredibly grateful to Matt LaFleur, Brian Gutekunst, Ed Policy and Mark Murphy for their unwavering trust and support throughout my time in Green Bay," Bisaccia said. "I am also thankful to the players for their consistent work and relentless effort to improve every single day. I would like to thank everyone in the organization for their dedication and commitment. The people in this building make it a special place to work.
"I want to also thank our fans and the people throughout the Green Bay community for their passion and love for this team. Coaching for the Green Bay Packers was truly an honor, and I will always be grateful for my time here. I look forward to whatever is next for me and my family, and I wish nothing but the best for everyone in the organization."
Zachary Jacobson is the Editor-in-Chief of Packer Report. He is entering his 11th season covering theGreen Bay Packers. He is a member of thePro Football Writers of America. Follow him on Twitter@zacobson or contact him via email atitszachariahj@gmail.com