CLEMSON — Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney wanted to hire longtime NFL special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia for a very simple reason.
“He's the best,” Swinney said on March 4 after Bisaccia’s first practice with the Tigers. “That's all I can say. I had an opportunity to hire the best.”
Bisaccia, 65, just spent nearly a quarter century in the NFL, stepping down as the Green Bay Packers’ special teams coordinator in February after a four-year stint.
He won a Super Bowl in his first year in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002. He’s coached multiple specialists to All-Pro status, including Martin Gramatica, Dan Bailey, and Daniel Carlson.
He’s been a head coach, serving as the Raiders’ interim in 2021 when Jon Gruden exited.
“He wants to win a national championship,” Swinney said. “It's the only thing he hasn’t done. So great opportunity for both of us.”
That opportunity does come at a cost. Bisaccia was approved on March 4 by Clemson’s board of trustees compensation committee for a one-year, $900,000 contract for the 2026 season — plus a $100,000 retention bonus if he’s still on staff this coming July.
For comparison, the University of South Carolina just hired a new special teams coordinator, Matthew Smiley, who had the same role with the Buffalo Bills from 2022-24, to a three-year deal that pays $700,000 per season.
Clemson’s previous special teams coordinator, Will Gilchrist, made $170,000 per year. But Gilchrist, a 2012 grad from Memphis, is just coming up the coaching ladder and doesn’t have Bisaccia’s NFL resume.
In fact, Swinney said he had conversations with the special teams guru in past years about returning to Clemson, where he coached running backs and specialists from 1994-98, but the “timing” just didn’t line up.
“Where we were from a college football rules standpoint, which affected salaries, and things like that, to where he was in his career and the timing and stuff,” Swinney said.
More specifically, the NCAA hadn’t lifted its cap on the number of coaches who were allowed to directly work with players on the field. That meant colleges weren’t paying all that much for special teams coaches, who can make seven-figure salaries in the NFL.
Now, the NCAA has lifted its cap, and college programs are being organized more like the NFL teams. Once Bisaccia stepped down from his job with the Packers, Swinney took his opportunity to upgrade his special teams staff.
“Now your specialty guy doesn't just have to be a guy in the back room somewhere. He can truly lead it and coach it,” Swinney said.
Clemson already has a handful of coaches assigned to special teams in some capacity, which will actually give Bisaccia more help than he had in the NFL. But he could be seen on the practice field on March 4 in a black hoodie, barking orders, physically standing behind the Tigers’ kick block unit and placing rushers in the right gaps.
Special teams has been a source of highs and lows for Clemson in recent years, featuring Nolan Hauser’s game-winning field goal in the 2024 ACC title game but also numerous blocked kicks that same year. In 2022, Clemson lost its rivalry game to South Carolina, partially because of a trick-play kick return that was fumbled and a muffed kick.
On top of Clemson’s $1 million in salary and retention bonus for Bisaccia, there are also a litany of performance bonuses written into his contract. Those include $36,000 if the Tigers make an ACC championship game, as well another $36,000 if they win a bowl game with eight-plus wins in the regular season.
Or he can earn $72,000 — rather than $36,000 — if they win a conference title. Plus, $144,000 if Clemson wins a national championship.
There are also $10,000 bonuses that can be earned if the Tigers rank top 20 in blocked kicks, blocked kicks allowed, blocked punts, blocked punts allowed, net punting average, or punt return defense.
Bisaccia can bring in another $20,000 apiece if Clemson ranks top 20 in punt returns, kickoff return defense, or kickoff returns.
Swinney expects Bisaccia to earn his paycheck because he has a long track record at the game’s highest level. Once his hire was announced, Clemson’s head coach started getting texts from alums who played for Bisaccia in the NFL, including ex-Raiders receiver Hunter Renfrow and defensive end Clelin Ferrell.
“If there's one thing I can say about Rich, his players love him,” Swinney said. “He is an incredibly well-respected man. He's a great husband. He's got a beautiful family, a bunch of grandkids.”
The timing was right for a return to Clemson, in many respects, and Swinney said Bisaccia wants to end his career with the Tigers.
“The biggest thing in talking to him, he really loves me. And that's important,” Swinney said. “He really cares about me and he loves Clemson.”