Season of Change: Bisaccia Remains Amid Staffing Shake-up

The Green Bay Packers have undergone a flurry of changes on their coaching staff in last couple of weeks, but special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia is still around, much to many fans’ chagrin.

This week, we’ll focus on the new hires on the defensive staff, as well as discuss the firing that Green Bay won’t commit to.

On Bisaccia

When it comes to special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Rich Bisaccia, I think one thing has become abundantly clear.

He is no longer fit to coach the third phase of the game.

While I understand that coach Bisaccia is highly respected in the building and generally well-liked by players, the Green Bay Packers would be foolish if they continue to allow him to control the special teams.

Besides punter Daniel Whelan, the group reached a rather sickening height of struggle this past season, and if Green Bay wants to capitalize on its chances at a Lombardi in the next few years, they’ll need to change their philosophy completely in that area of the game.

In the 2020’s, the Packers have rated second to last in the NFL in total EPA lost on special teams, which represents how many expected points the team has missed out on as a result of their neglect of the third phase.

Their metric of -165.81 points is only bested by the Rams’ -169.68, and after that, they are almost eighty whole points worse than the next closest organization.

That is simply unacceptable, and yet, the Packers continue to drag their feet.

While the Rams hired one of the league’s best special teams coordinators this offseason, Green Bay has stayed pat with Bisaccia, despite an initial report that he would be ousted following the Packers’ playoff loss.

As of now, he seems to be safe, and in my opinion, that will be one of Green Bay’s biggest mistakes.

While that’s not to say that everything falls on the coordinator, I do think that Bisaccia’s continued presence plays a huge role.

Regardless of whether or not he is missing or muffing the kicks himself, he should be using his proximity and leverage with head coach Matt LaFleur to more efficiently advocate for the betterment of his guys.

The Packers have not had a dedicated kick or punt returner for several seasons now, and although Brandon McManus seemed like the solution at kicker in 2024, the team’s refusal to move on from him during the 2025 season cost them games.

If the Green Bay Packers are able to keep roster spots open for players that Bisaccia values for their special teams prowess, like Nick Niemann and Zayne Anderson among others, I see no reason why the aforementioned situations could not have been avoided or better remedied.

At the very least, Bisaccia is a part of Green Bay’s continued complacency, and in an off-season in which the coaching staff is already being heavily poached, the choice to move on would simply be another entry in a growing list of positions to rehire.

If Green Bay wanted to keep Bisaccia on, they could even consider putting him in the assistant head coach role only, if he were to allow it.

That position seems much better suited for what he’s offering the team right now, even if it’d be an expensive title.

Regardless of the choice, it’d be nice to see the Packers be a bit more cutthroat in attacking their decade-defining weakness.

On The New Hires

While there is still frustration surrounding the moves that the Green Bay Packers won’t make, the few that they have made so far in regard to the defensive staff have been promising,

Last week, I wrote about new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, and since his hiring, he’s made a few additions to his staff.

Those additions include former Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich and Gannon’s former linebackers coach a few years ago, Sam Siefkes.

The theme with these hires seems to be experience, and that could not come at a better time.

Babich, who will be the Packers new defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach, has fourteen years of NFL coaching experience and played a part in the Bills’ number one ranked pass defense last year, an area in which the Packers certainly need to improve.

Siefkes, though light on NFL experience, has coordinated a defense as well, in this case at the college level, coming over from Virginia Tech.

He’ll coach linebackers again, and he also has Wisconsin ties, being born in Oconomowoc and coaching at several universities in the state.

Within the next week, we’ll likely see more inclusions to the staff, as several coaches have officially followed Jeff Hafley to Miami, and a few more have been hired by other teams.

Hopefully, the influx of tenured NFL minds will have a significant impact on both the Green Bay Packers’ culture and performance in 2026.

Starting Fresh

Thanks to the outside hiring of many of their assistant coaches, the Green Bay Packers are undergoing a massive overhaul of their staff.

While the new blood introduced so far has been great, I am of the opinion that the team must take the opportunity to fully clean house, and that includes special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia.

When it comes to long-waited moves, Green Bay often has to have its hand forced, and there’s no better time than now to explore new options to mend one of their weakest links.

If they do, we may get the luxury of losing a few less games in blunder-like fashion.