GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Inexperienced Bay Packers can have a brand new particular groups coordinator this season after Wealthy Bisaccia, who additionally served as assistant head coach to Matt LaFleur, introduced Tuesday night that he has stepped down.
Bisaccia, 65, has been with the Packers since 2022. He was employed to repair a problematic particular groups unit that the earlier season had a each a discipline objective and a punt blocked in a playoff loss. Bisaccia added the assistant head coach title in 2023. He got here to the Packers after serving because the Raiders interim head coach throughout the 2021 season.
“After taking a while to mirror over the previous few weeks, I’ve made the choice to step down because the assistant head coach and particular groups coordinator of the Inexperienced Bay Packers,” Bisaccia mentioned in a press release launched by the group. “I’m extremely grateful to Matt LaFleur, Brian Gutekunst, Ed Coverage and Mark Murphy for his or her unwavering belief and help all through my time in Inexperienced Bay. I’m additionally grateful to the gamers for his or her constant work and relentless effort to enhance each single day. I want to thank everybody within the group for his or her dedication and dedication. The folks on this constructing make it a particular place to work.”
Bisaccia turned the second coordinator to go away the Packers this season after defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley was named the Dolphins’ head coach. The Packers employed former Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon to exchange Hafley.
The brand new coordinator would be the fourth to run the particular groups underneath LaFleur, who’s coming into his eighth season. Earlier this offseason, the Packers misplaced Bisaccia’s high assistant, Byron Storer, who turned the Browns’ particular groups coordinator.
Whereas Bisaccia coached some profitable particular person performers — punter Daniel Whelan set the franchise file for gross and web punting common final season, and Keisean Nixon was twice chosen as an All-Professional kick returner — a number of the identical errors which have haunted the Packers by no means went away.
Bisaccia’s hand-picked kicker, Anders Carlson, had a dismal rookie season, together with a pricey missed discipline objective within the 2023 playoff loss to the 49ers, and it began a revolving door of kickers.
Simply this previous season, the Packers had a possible profitable discipline objective blocked in a Week 3 loss to the Browns; had an additional level blocked and returned for a two-point conversion in a Week 4 tie with the Cowboys; and muffed an onside kick restoration try by Romeo Doubs that the Bears recovered to assist beat Inexperienced Bay in a Week 16 recreation.
Then, within the playoff loss to the Bears, kicker Brandon McManus missed two discipline objectives and an additional level.
Bisaccia mentioned final offseason that he contemplated stepping down then partly as a result of he mentioned, “I felt like I failed [LaFleur] at occasions in a number of the issues in the way in which wherein we performed.”
Nonetheless, earlier this offseason normal supervisor Brian Gutekunst mentioned he needed to Bisaccia to return.
“What Wealthy brings to our tradition, this soccer group, he is a really impactful coach round right here,” Gutekunst mentioned earlier this month. “Definitely, I believed we have been higher on [special] groups the previous few years than we have been in a very long time. Our cowl items have been higher, we have got among the finest punters within the Nationwide Soccer League, bought a superb snapper. Brandon was glorious final yr.
“This yr once more he labored by way of some issues damage clever after which had a nasty playoff recreation. … I’ve bought plenty of religion in Wealthy and his workers, what they do round right here, not solely the X’s and O’s, what they bring about to the sector, however what they bring about to this place culturally is absolutely necessary.”
LaFleur, in a press release, additionally indicated that he needed Bisaccia to return.
“Whereas we’re upset to lose an individual and coach as worthwhile as Wealthy, we respect his resolution to step down from the Packers,” LaFleur mentioned. “Wealthy was an incredible useful resource to me and our complete teaching workers who had a profound impression on our gamers and our tradition all through the constructing. We won’t thank him sufficient for his contributions to our group during the last 4 years. We want Wealthy, his spouse, Jeanne, and the remainder of their household all the perfect transferring ahead.”
