The Rich Bisaccia Experiment Is Well Past Its Expiration Date

You would have thought the Green Bay Packers had learned from their past experience of keeping an underachieving coordinator (hello, Joe Barry) around for far too long, which ultimately cost them a chance at a Super Bowl appearance. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

The Rich Bisaccia experiment has gone well past its expiration date. His special teams units have ranked as a bottom-10 group in DVOA at some point in each of the last four years. Pro Football Focus graded them 25th in 2022, 26th in 2023, 32nd in 2024, and once again near the bottom in 2025. The problem is he’s also the highest-paid special teams coordinator in the league, and the results have been unacceptable.

The Packers were in position to attempt a potential game-winning field goal against the Cleveland Browns in Week 3, but Cleveland blocked the kick. The Browns then gained a few yards and kicked the game-winner themselves. Even if they had missed, it wouldn’t have mattered because Green Bay was offside on the play, which would have given Cleveland another chance.

Field-goal protection has been an issue. Having already lost a game because of it, you would think the Packers would spend the entire week shoring it up. Instead, in the first half against the Dallas Cowboys, the unit gave up another block — this time on an extra point — which resulted in two points for Dallas and a massive momentum shift. The three-point swing was huge for a game that went to overtime and ended in a draw.

“You’ve got to go back and you’ve got to practice and you’ve got to do a better job,” Matt LaFleur

The Packers are a blocked field goal and a blocked PAT away from being 4-0 heading into the bye. The thing is, they should be 4-0 if not for their resistance to fixing what has clearly not been working. It’s tough to move on from coordinators midseason since they oversee an entire unit, including sub-level coaches. Still, the results with Bisaccia have been suboptimal for at least the last two years.

The Cowboys averaged 29.5 yards per kick return on Sunday, including a couple of big plays that set them up near midfield. You had to literally hold your breath every time KaVontae Turpin touched the football.

Meanwhile, Green Bay inexplicably had both Matthew Golden and Romeo Doubs returning punts. Golden got rocked on one and was lucky to avoid a concussion. With Christian Watson and Jayden Reed unavailable, the Packers still thought it made sense to risk their top remaining receivers on special teams duty.

Bisaccia is reportedly a well-respected figure in the locker room. If that’s true, Green Bay could keep him on as assistant head coach. That said, would he even want to be retained in that role only? Bisaccia has a wealth of experience and could easily land another coordinator job elsewhere.

Still, it’s long past time for the Packers to place the special teams unit under new leadership. It’s understandable if LaFleur wanted to give Bisaccia the benefit of the doubt, but any further resistance to moving on from him in charge will only make his seat warmer.

The entire state of Wisconsin has poured significant resources into special teams — money, draft picks, and trust — only to be left frustrated again and again. The unit has operated like an