To truly understand the psychological weight of the Green Bay Packers’ special teams coordinator job, one must look at it not as a standard coaching promotion, but as an assignment to an active disaster zone. When Matt LaFleur hired Cam Achord to replace the suddenly departed Rich Bisaccia, the announcement was met with the standard press-conference optimism. Achord preached the importance of “meticulous attention to details” and mastering the absolute fundamentals of the kicking game.
But does Achord truly comprehend the sheer, multi-decade magnitude of the failure he is being asked to fix?
The tracking numbers over the last six seasons paint an ugly picture. Legendary analyst Rick Gosselin tracked extensive, definitive 22-category special teams rankings until his retirement after 2023, while the comprehensive Packers On SI metric has cleanly tracked the unit's success by factoring in total field position and efficiency. The visual reality of Green Bay’s third phase from 2020 through last season shows a unit that has been an anchor dragging down a championship-caliber roster.
Green Bay Packers Special Teams Rankings (2020–2025)
Year Ranking Source
2020 29 Gosselin
2021 32 Gosselin
2022 22 Gosselin
2023 29 Gosselin
2024 22 SI Efficiency
2025 20 SI Efficiency
Even the revered Bisaccia — the highest-paid special teams coordinator in the NFL — admitted he failed to solve the riddle before unexpectedly walking away this winter. Green Bay has not fielded a legitimately positive special teams unit since 2007. For Achord, who built a sterling reputation under Bill Belichick in New England, taking this job means stepping into an environment where fans expect a disaster every time the kicking team takes the field. In other words, you don’t go to a demolition derby to see fast cars. You go to see crashes and destruction.
To make matters worse, Achord's tall task is magnified tenfold by a high-stakes variable: a rookie kicker. The Packers took Florida kicker Trey Smack in the sixth round last spring. Smack has been largely inconsistent in minicamp and OTAs as we get closer to peeling the band-aid off for training camp on July 29.
Green Bay finished 23rd in field-goal percentage last year at a shaky 82.4 percent. The front office decided to reset the room completely, putting immense pressure on a young leg to anchor a roster built to win right now. Rookie kickers are notoriously volatile; they must adjust to narrower hash marks, faster edge rushers, and the severe psychological toll of Lambeau Field’s swirling winter winds.
Achord won't have the luxury of slow development. Every missed extra point or botched field goal will be scrutinized through the lens of twenty years of franchise failure. Achord has the resume and the championship ring from his New England days to command respect. But if he cannot stabilize a volatile rookie kicker and inject discipline into a unit that just finished dead last in punt returns, he will become just another name chewed up and spit out by Green Bay’s most cursed unit.
Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn