The Packers’ special teams coordinator is apparently in demand.
According to a new report, Packers’ special team coordinator Rich Bisaccia is a candidate for the Dallas Cowboys’ vacant head coach position.
The Cowboys allowed head coach Mike McCarthy’s contract to expire last week, ending his tenure with the team after five seasons. Now, they’re casting a wide net as they search for his replacement.
Josh Liles of Pro Football Post reports their search now includes Bisaccia, who has been the Packers’ special teams coordinator since 2022.
“According to a high-ranking executive in the league, the Cowboys are interested in Packers special teams coordinator and former Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia,” Liles wrote today. “Neither the Cowboys nor the Packers have responded to inquiries whether Dallas has sought or received permission from Green Bay to interview Bisaccia, who’s entering the final year of his contract in Green Bay.”
Bisaccia previously served as the interim head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders, guiding them to a 7-5 record after taking over for Jon Gruden, who resigned midway through the 2021 season in the wake of his email scandal. The Raiders made the playoffs that year, making Bisaccia just the second interim coach in league history to guide his team to the playoffs. The first was Bruce Arians, who took the Colts to the playoffs in 2012 while filling in for Chuck Pagano, who had taken a leave of absence after being diagnosed with leukemia.
Bisaccia would be a non-traditional hire, but looking to special teams coordinators for head coaching candidates is not without precedent. Bill Belichick’s experience with special teams shaped his philosophy in numerous ways, and Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was a special teams coordinator for nearly a decade before spending just a single season as a defensive backs coach on his way to the Ravens’ head coaching gig. On top of that, Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub regularly gets attention (though it’s debatable how serious it is) in head coaching searches.
It’s not as glamorous as taking the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay/Matt LaFleur-style path to a head coaching job, but working as a special teams coordinator can give coaches a comprehensive view of the roster, forcing them to adapt their strategies and execute at a high level despite a constantly shifting selection of available players from one week to the next.
The question is whether or not Bisaccia’s performance with the Packers would merit a shot at a head coach job. The Cowboys reportedly think so, but Packers fans may be less convinced. Though rarely as truly terrible as they routinely were under predecessors Sean Mennenga and Maurice Drayton, Bisaccia’s special teams units in Green Bay have rarely been, well, special. Keisean Nixon’s run as an elite kickoff returner in 2022 and 2023 is the highlight of Bisaccia’s tenure, but the Packers have also struggled in other aspects of special teams on his watch.
Should Bisaccia depart, the Packers have two in-house candidates to replace him. Assistant special teams coach Byron Storer has been with the Packers since 2022 and has held a variety of special teams roles with the Buccaneers and Chargers dating back to 2010. Special teams quality control coach Kyle Wilbur, meanwhile, has been with the Packers since 2023 after a decade-long NFL career, the final few years of which involved playing for Bisaccia with the Raiders.