Last season was a unique one for the Raiders to say the least. It made for a very unique run for Rich Bisaccia as well. And Thursday night when the vote tallies for NFL honors came out, we saw the result of that.
That night it was revealed that Bisaccia received votes for Coach of the Year AND Assistant Coach of the Year.
Dan Quinn won the AP Assistant Coach of the Year award. Among others with votes were new #Raiders coach Josh McDaniels (2 votes), former Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia (2) and #49ers DC DeMeco Ryans (1)
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) February 11, 2022
I'm not sure what Matt LaFleur will have to do in order to win coach of the year, but the voting wasn't close:
Mike Vrabel: 25
Matt LaFleur: 8
Rich Bisaccia: 3
Zac Taylor: 2
Bill Belichick: 1— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) February 11, 2022
Bisaccia’s two votes for Coach of the Year and three votes for Assistant Coach of the Year make him the first ever to get votes in both categories in the nine years since the Assistant Coach of the Year category was introduced.
#Raiders Rich Bisaccia got 2 votes for top assistant and 3 votes for coach of the year, becoming first coach to get votes in both categories since the assistant coach of the year award started in 2014
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) February 11, 2022
How does this happen? Well, that’s a long story.
Bisaccia is one of the most respected special teams coordinators in the league. He joined the Raiders staff in 2020, starting his 17th season as a special teams coordinator at the NFL level and his 10th as assistant head coach.
Five games into his second season with the Raiders, Bisaccia’s title of assistant head coach would turn into interim head coach with the forced resignation of Jon Gruden.
It’s not uncommon for assistant head coaches to step up into an interim head coaching job during an NFL season. But nearly every one of those times, it’s because of the performance of the team, making for almost assuredly a lost season.
Gruden resigned over offensive emails he sent prior to returning to coaching in 2018. And the Raiders were sitting at 3-2, which meant unlike most instances in which an interim head coach steps in, Bisaccia was taking over a talented team with most of their season still ahead of them.
The Raiders won two-straight games when Bisaccia took over the job. Then finished the season on an improbable four-game win streak to make the playoffs. The final game of which was a win and you’re in, lose you go home game against a tough Chargers team which was in the same situation.
They did this after having to regroup following the tragic car accident in which the team’s number one receiver Henry Ruggs III was allegedly driving drunk and crashed his car, resulting in the death of a young woman and her dog.
Two voters thought guiding a team into the playoffs under such conditions and with the odds stacked against them was worthy of being named Coach of the Year.
All this was happening while Bisaccia’s kicking unit was far and away the best in the league. Punter AJ Cole was named an First Team All-Pro after a season in which he became the first punter not named Shane Lechler to averaged over 50 yards per punt. While Daniel Carlson was perfection late in the season and second only to Justin Tucker as the league’s top kicker.
In the end, the Raiders weren’t able to advance in the playoffs, losing to the Bengals who are playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday. And the Raiders opted to start fresh with their head coach and General Manager positions.
Bisaccia was hired by the Packers to coach their special teams. A team that was knocked from the playoffs in large part due to how bad they were on special teams. So, if Bisaccia can do anything close to what he did with the Raiders special teams unit, he may find himself getting some votes for Assistant coach of the Year next year as well.
Though you probably won’t see any coach getting votes for both Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year again anytime soon.