Tag: Rich Bisaccia

Packers bring back several core special teams players this offseason

In addition to two big free agent additions this offseason, the Packers re-signed several core special teams players for the 2024 season.

In addition to the big free agent splashes the Green Bay Packers made by signing Xavier McKinney and Josh Jacobs, general manager Brian Gutekunst has also brought back several of the team’s core special teams contributors.

The most recent re-signing made by the Packers was to bring back Eric Wilson. In 2023, Wilson would lead the Packers in total special teams snaps with 308, and over the last two seasons, he had the most tackles as well with 25.

Corey Ballentine’s special teams role was a bit reduced last season at times because he was starting defensively. However, when that wasn’t the case, he was a special teams starter across four different phases.

Linebacker Kristian Welch was solely a special teams player in 2023, totaling the fourth-most snaps on the team, recording the sixth-highest PFF grade among Packers’ players, and totaling the third-most tackles.

Tyler Davis would miss the entire 2023 season with an ACL injury that he sustained in the preseason. This was a loss that Rich Bisaccia referred to as it being like the special teams unit lost its right hand. In 2022, Davis led the team in special teams snaps, starting on five different phases while finishing fourth in tackles.

Lastly, two-time All-Pro return man Keisean Nixon was signed to a three-year deal to return to the Packers. For the second year in a row, Nixon led the NFL in kick return yards and ranked third in yards per return. With Jayden Reed holding a prominent role on offense, we could potentially see Nixon’s role as a punt returner expanding in 2024.

In Bisaccia’s first season at the helm of the special teams unit in 2022, we saw the Packers jump from being ranked 32nd in Rick Gosselin’s annual rankings to 22nd. However, this unit took a step backward in 2023.

Overall, the Packers ranked 29th last season in Gosselin’s rankings. Due to the ups and downs experienced on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball throughout the season, the Packers’ special teams woes seemed to fly under the radar. However, this was a unit that battled inconsistency, at times couldn’t get out of its own way, and had the second-most penalties in football.

These special teams-centric offseason additions are a somewhat new approach for the Packers that began when Bisaccia arrived in Green Bay in an effort to turn this unit around. Previously, special teams was more of an afterthought with special teams-specific roles filled by fringe roster players.

Nixon, of course, has a path to contribute as a starting nickel cornerback, but his presence won’t stop the Packers from trying to bolster that position in the draft, either. Wilson, Ballentine, and Davis could be called upon to contribute on defense or offense if needed, but ideally, their primary roles will come on special teams—that is main reason why they are in Green Bay.

During this part of the offseason, re-signing players like Ballentine, Welch, and Davis can go somewhat unnoticed, but they are important when it comes to building out roster depth and elevating competition within position groups, with all three potentially playing a crucial role on special teams.

This is a Packers team with high expectations entering 2024. With what should be a very good offense and hopefully have an improved defense, the special teams unit doesn’t have to be the best in football by any means for the Packers to be successful. But they have to be better than what they were in 2023 if this team is going to reach its ultimate goal.

New team but familiar faces for Packers RB Josh Jacobs

Running back Josh Jacobs will be joining a new team in the Packers but there were several familiar faces welcoming him to Green Bay.

New Green Bay Packers’ running back Josh Jacobs has spent his first five NFL seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders. But despite being on a new team and having just arrived in Green Bay, there were two familiar faces, Rich Bisaccia and Keisean Nixon, waiting to greet him.

Bisaccia and Jacobs would spend three seasons together in Las Vegas. Bisaccia joined the Raiders in 2018 as the special teams coordinator and assistant head coach before becoming the interim head coach for the latter portion of the 2021 season. Jacobs was then drafted during the 2019 offseason.

During their time together in Las Vegas, Bisaccia and Jacobs developed a close relationship that had a tremendous impact on Jacobs. So much so, in fact, that Bisaccia being in Green Bay was an important factor in Jacobs’ decision to join the team.

“Man, Coach Bisaccia,” said Jacobs with a smile, “I’m not going to lie. He was one of the main reasons I wanted to come here too, just knowing he was already here and dealing with him in the past.

“We’ve always had a tight relationship, and that year he was head coach, we had a lot of real conversations. We sat down, we talked about life and everything. To be around him and that energy he has every day, I think it’s going to be fun.”

Nixon, meanwhile, also spent his first three NFL seasons, from 2019 to 2021, with the Raiders, all of which overlapped with Jacobs’ time there as well, where the two formed a strong bond.

Both Nixon and Jacobs have stayed in touch over the last two years while they’ve been on different teams. If Bisaccia played an important role in Jacobs’ decision to come to Green Bay, then the conversations that Jacobs and Nixon have had since he joined the team have solidified that it was the right decision.

”We’ve talked a lot,” said Jacobs about his relationship with Nixon. “We’ve talked a lot. Like I said, he’s one of them guys that I always keep up with him too. Coming in, Keisean is very charismatic. He’s a charismatic guy.

“But man, we were talking last night about this place, and he told me how much it reminded him about college ball and how much there’s just a real genuine love for football and what you do on a day-to-day basis. And he kind of sold me, I’m like yeah, he got me ready to play. But man, good dude.”

In addition to Bisaccia and Nixon, while Jacobs’ and Xavier McKinney’s decisions to sign with the Packers were independent of each other, each has a familiar face in one another to lean on as they acclimate to their new team and city. Both played at Alabama during the 2017 and 2018 seasons under Nick Saban.

Whether you’re an NFL football player or starting a new job of your own, joining a new team where there is already an existing relationship or two certainly helps with the transition and can make one feel at home a bit sooner.

In addition to joining a new team, which means getting accustomed to a new playbook and new play calls, along with being in a new city, there is the Green Bay climate – the winters – that will be a bit new for Jacobs as well.

Jacobs is from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He played his college ball at Alabama and has spent his first five NFL seasons in Las Vegas. Of course, there have been away games played in the cold, but by and large, his home base has not been where the temperatures can be frigid.

While it will be different, as a running back, Jacobs is looking forward to playing in the cold because it will make him more difficult to tackle–a feat that has already proven to be challenging for opponents. During his All-Pro season in 2022, Jacobs led the NFL in missed tackles forced and ranked 11th in average yards after contact.

“Oh, as a running back,” said Jacobs, “you love playing in the cold because people don’t want to hit you. Then after a while you start to wear on them, and it makes it a lot easier. I think if I was (I think he said “another player”), I might be like, uhhhhh, but as a running back I love it.”

Packers staying patient through ‘typical’ ups and downs with rookie kicker Anders Carlson

The Packers are preaching patience with rookie kicker Anders Carlson, who continues to have ups and downs in his first training camp.

Don’t expect Brian Gutekunst, Rich Bisaccia and the Green Bay Packers to act impulsively when it comes to rookie kicker Anders Carlson, who the team believes is going through the “typical” ups and downs of a first-year specialist but has a bright future ahead.

Put another way: Barring an unforeseen implosion, Carlson is going to be the Packers kicker come Week 1 and will be the team’s kicker long-term.

Both Gutekunst and Bisaccia preached patience for Carlson, a sixth-round pick who showcased a powerful kicking leg but also on-going inconsistency throughout training camp, joint practices and the preseason.

“We believe in him, we think he has a lot of talent, he’s done some really good things since he’s been here. You guys have seen his leg strength, his power. I really like the way the ball elevates off his foot,” Gutekunst said Friday. “But you have to find a way to get to a more consistent level. One thing…there’s not a lot of patience sometimes when there needs to be. Mason had some multiple times while he was here where he was in some really bad spots, some struggles, and I always thought Ted gave him a pretty long leash and he always came out of it. I think that’s important, espescially for young players to get that patience, that leash to get there. But at some point, when this stuff becomes real, it becomes different.”

Carlson made his first four kicks, including a 45-yard field goal, during the preseason opener in Cincinnati, but he then missed back-to-back extra points to end the contest and had misses during practice on Monday and Wednesday, including two in two-minute situations.

The Packers see typical struggles of a young kicker.

“You see that, it’s pretty typical, you see it around the league right now. It’s gotta get fixed, and we have to get to a point where we can produce when it matters, but yeah, I think that’s pretty typical.

Gutekunst said he wasn’t considering bringing in competition for Carlson at this point in camp. Bisaccia said he and the general manager are “on the same page” when it comes to patience with Carlson.

“Age and wisdom allow you to have patience, especially with this position,” Bisaccia said. “He’s exhibited a lot of the things we thought he was in a lot of positive ways. There’s always going to be things to clean up. We’re excited what tomorrow can bring and hopefully we can play well in the game and evaluate the things that are good and keep getting better and evaluate the things that need to work on and hopefully get better in that direction.”

The Packers host the Patriots at Lambeau Field on Saturday night, giving Carlson another opportunity to bounce back in a live game situation.

Bisaccia noted he went through similar ups and downs with young kickers such as Martin Gramatica, Dan Bailey, Nate Kaeding, Nick Novak and Daniel Carlson at previous NFL stops, and he believes the character and mental makeup of Carlson give him an opportunity to rebound from early issues and become a capable NFL kicker.

“I’ll go back to his mental makeup has a lot to do with why we drafted him, why we like him and why we think his future is going to be bright for him,” Bisaccia said.

Rich Bisaccia talks Mason Crosby, working with another Carlson

Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia won’t rule out a return for Mason Crosby, but his focus is on developing rookie Anders Carlson.

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In the midst of transitioning away from their franchise quarterback, the Green Bay Packers are also transitioning away from their franchise kicker.

Maybe.

Back for his second season as the special teams coordinator, Rich Bisaccia wouldn’t rule out a return for Mason Crosby during a press conference on Tuesday.

“I’ve been fortunate to be around a lot of great kickers in my time in the league, and he’s one of them. We’re still in conversation. I think Brian (Gutekunst) has spoken that the door’s not closed, and he’s not on anybody’s team yet,” said Bisaccia.

“I still think there’s play in Mason and we’ll see what the future holds.”

For the time being, Bisaccia is correct. Crosby is unsigned, but his 16 years of experience and 11th overall ranking on the NFL’s all-time scoring list make one think he could be snatched up at any moment. The Packers, meanwhile, are trying to get younger at several positions, which may include kicker.

At 38 years of age, Crosby showed he can still be consistent last season, connecting on 86.2 percent of his field goals. The only issue is a kicker of his status requires a respectable salary that Green Bay may not be willing to pay.

So, in search of a younger, cheaper option, Gutekunst selected Anders Carlson in the sixth round out of Auburn. Some might say spending a draft pick on a kicker isn’t very astute. Those same people forget Crosby was a former sixth-round pick himself or may not be aware of Bisaccia’s rapport with Carlson that dates back well before he was drafted by Green Bay.

For a very brief time (less than a month in fact), Bisaccia was a special teams coach, running backs coach, and assistant head coach at Auburn. His first home visit was to the Carlson household, where he recruited Anders’ older brother, Daniel, to kick for the Tigers. The two were later reunited in Las Vegas after Daniel was cut by the Minnesota Vikings.

From 2018-21, Bisaccia helped resurrect Daniel’s career so he could become an All-Pro for the Raiders. All the while, the younger Carlson was a frequent visitor. According to Bisaccia, they would review his college tape and even suggest drills to him.

Admittingly, Carlson’s time at Auburn was a little more turbulent than his older brother’s. In five seasons, he battled multiple injuries and made only 71.8 percent of his field goals. Fortunately for him, Bisaccia didn’t focus too much on the stats when suggesting him to the Packers.

“I look at the makeup of the person,” he said. “I think he’s a strong mental makeup person. I think he’s been his best regardless of the circumstance. He’s been in a lot of big games, kicked in a lot of situations in the SEC, and kicked in many bowl games.”

Bisaccia also likes Carlson’s ability to self-correct, which could be somewhat of a family trait. For taller kickers, your angle when approaching the ball has to be precise, per Bisaccia. Measuring at 6-5, this contributed to Daniel’s downfall in Minnesota and is something Carlson (the same height) has worked on as well.

At least for now, Carlson doesn’t have to look over his shoulder for Crosby. He may never have to if the Packers stick to their youth movement and focus on the development of their younger players. Bisaccia believes that is the plan for 2023.

“If Anders can perform like we think he can and can improve, I think we’re prepared organizationally with, as well as the majority of the other draft picks, to weather the storm to some degree positionally, and hopefully, they can keep improving and get better with time.”

Matt LaFleur on rookie kicker Anders Carlson: ‘We’re excited about the talent there’

Matt LaFleur confirmed the confidence from Rich Bisaccia in rookie kicker Anders Carlson was the driving force of the draft pick.

Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur confirmed the confidence in Anders Carlson from special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia was a driving force for the team picking the Auburn kicker in the sixth round of the 2023 draft.

LaFleur said the Packers like the talent and the potential of Carlson, who is finally kicking without a brace on his surgically repaired left leg.

But Bisaccia — who once coached All-Pro Daniel Carlson, Anders’ brother — was the motivating factor.

“He was very high on him, obviously, having a history there with his brother,” LaFleur said Sunday. “He’s known him here for a while now. It definitely had a big impact on Anders’ ability to be picked by us.”

The 207th overall pick will get a chance to replace Mason Crosby as the Packers kicker in 2023. Working under Bisaccia, who was promoted to assistant head coach by the Packers this year, will only help the process.

Carlson missed time with a torn ACL and injured shoulder during his final two seasons. He finished his five-year collegiate career making only 71 percent of kicks, but Bisaccia and the Packers see potential now that he’s healthy.

“He’s a talented guy. We’re excited. He’s got a big leg,” LaFleur said. “Certainly, he’s far from a finished product. He didn’t kick with a brace on this week at all, which I think is going to help him. We’re just excited about the talent there.”

Carlson will compete with Parker White for the kicking job in 2023.

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Familiarity and Rich Bisaccia give Packers confidence in kicker Anders Carlson

Why did the Packers take Auburn kicker Anders Carlson? Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia was a big reason.

Perhaps the most head-scratching selection made by the Green Bay Packers in this year’s draft was taking kicker Anders Carlson from Auburn in the sixth round.

Now, the reason is not because Carlson is a kicker. In fact, I would have been more surprised had Green Bay not drafted a kicker at all, given the current state of that position. The Packers entered the draft with only Parker White on the roster, and he has no NFL experience.

The surprising part of all this was that in comparison to several of his college counterparts, especially those who were drafted as well, Carlson’s numbers as a kicker don’t exactly leap off the page.

Carlson made 71% of his 107 career field goal attempts, according to PFF. He was solid from inside 40 yards, but beyond is where he became very inconsistent. He made 25 of his 39 attempts from the 40 to 49-yard range, and he was just 4 of 16 from over 50. Even on kickoffs, where opponents returned 42% of Carlson’s attempts wasn’t overly impressive, ranking 99th among all kickers in 2022.

In his pre-draft report on Carlson, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote this:

“Carlson has made kicks in big moments and appeared to be tracking in a good direction back in 2020. However, he has struggled to establish consistency on mid-range kicks and has been poor on kicks from 50 yards and beyond. He’s had too many kicks blocked during his career and doesn’t sport a booming leg on kickoffs.”

So what made the Green Bay Packers comfortable with making this pick? Well, from the sounds of it, there were two primary reasons: familiarity and confidence in Rich Bisaccia.

“He (Carlson) was a kid that Rich (Bisaccia) has extensive experience with,” said Brian Gutekunst after the draft. “He had his brother (Daniel Carlson) and had known him for quite a while. He struggled with some injuries over the past couple of years after a very promising start. So we felt good about where he was headed, and again, the relationship Rich had with him was a positive factor. The familiarity there helped.”

Daniel Carlson, brother of Anders, is still a member of the Raiders. He spent several years there with Bisaccia from 2018, after he was signed mid-season following his release from Minnesota, through 2021, when Bisaccia left to join Green Bay. For his career, Carlson has made 89% of his 166 career field goal attempts, including 34-of-45 from 40 to 49 yards and 24-of-29 from 50-plus.

The injuries to Carlson that Gutekunst referenced was an ACL tear that occurred in November of 2021 and resulted in him wearing a leg brace during the 2022 season. Carlson’s 2022 season was then cut short after he suffered a shoulder injury while making a tackle on the kickoff team.

Gutekunst said Bisaccia met with Carlson at Auburn before the draft.

“With kickers, Rich has a long track record and a very successful one, and I felt really good about how he felt about him,” added Gutekunst.

For 16 years, the Packers largely have not had to worry about the kicker position with the presence of Mason Crosby on the roster. Although Gutekunst wasn’t willing to completely close the door on a return, Green Bay’s tight salary cap situation along with the current state of the team are potentially two reasons why they could be looking elsewhere.

With the Packers in the midst of transitioning to quarterback Jordan Love, of course, they still want to win games. However, while Green Bay can still very much be competitive, they also likely aren’t going to be a Super Bowl contender either, especially with so much youth on offense.

This means that they should use this upcoming season as an opportunity to search for their kicker of the future — which is no easy task — rather than potentially spending $4 million to $5 million in cap space they don’t have, or using void years to push more cap charges to future years, for just one more season with Crosby.

Ideally, the Packers will have a better grasp at kicker at this point next offseason, whether that be Carlson, White, or whomever, when they are potentially in a better position to win as well. If Crosby were to return in 2023, there’s no guarantee that he would be the kicker in 2024, with retirement likely nearing, and that scenario would put the Packers right back into the position they currently find themselves in. Crosby also has become more inconsistent from over 50 yards as he ages and has had one of the highest kickoff return attempt rates in football.

“It’s going to have to be a process that we are going to have to work through and see where it goes,” said Matt LaFleur of the current outlook at kicker. But I think we’ve got two guys we are pretty confident in. Obviously drafted Anders (Carlson), and Rich has some history with him and his brother, working with him in Las Vegas. So we thought it was a really good fit for us.”

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Packers to re-sign safety/special teamer Dallin Leavitt

The Packers are bringing back safety Dallin Leavitt, who finished last season ranked second on the team in special teams snaps.

Add another one to Rich Bisaccia’s pile: The Green Bay Packers are re-signing safety Dallin Leavitt, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.

With Leavitt returning, the Packers will retain the team’s top eight players in special teams snaps from a year ago.

Leavitt, now in his sixth NFL season, played in all 17 games and was on the field for 308 special teams snaps for the Packers in 2022, his first season in Green Bay. He played 72 percent of special teams snaps and finished the year ranked second on the team in total special teams snaps, trailing only Tyler Davis, who was also re-signed.

Leavitt finished the season with 12 total tackles (seven solo, five assisted) and only one penalty and one missed tackle. He played snaps on kickoff return, punt return, kickoff coverage, punt coverage and field goal block.

The Packers signed Leavitt as a free agent on July 25 of last year. He followed Bisaccia from Las Vegas to Green Bay and immediately became a special teams leader for the Packers, who improved significantly in the third phase in 2022.

Special teams have been a clear priority this offseason. The Packers re-signed Leavitt, Davis, Keisean Nixon, Rudy Ford, Corey Ballentine and Eric Wilson and signed long snapper Matt Orzech and safety Tarvarius Moore.

Leavitt’s role is special teams related only. He did not play a snap on defense in 2022 and has only 369 career defensive snaps over five seasons, compared to 1,1147 special teams snaps.

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Packers promote Rich Bisaccia to assistant head coach on Matt LaFleur’s staff

Rich Bisaccia received a promotion in Green Bay: While still the special teams coordinator, he’s now the assistant head coach under Matt LaFleur.

The Green Bay Packers finalized coaching staff in 2023 included a noteworthy promotion: Rich Bisaccia, who served as the team’s first-year special teams coordinator in 2022, has added assistant head coach to his job title.

The title is nothing new for Bisaccia; the veteran coach was previously the assistant (or associate) head coach with the Buccaneers, Chargers, Cowboys and Raiders. The 2023 season will mark his 12th as an assistant head coach at the NFL level.

Players and coaches raved about Bisaccia’s leadership during his first season in Green Bay. Getting results no doubt helped. Bisaccia helped turn around the Packers’ special teams in 2022, turning the league’s worst group in 2021 into a respectable unit last season. As an added bonus, Keisean Nixon emerged over the final half of the season and was named a first-team All-Pro as a kickoff returner.

Bisaccia was interviewed by the Indianapolis Colts for the team’s head coach vacancy during this year’s hiring cycle but did not receive the job.

Before coming to Green Bay, Bisaccia served as the interim head coach for the Raiders over the final 12 games of the 2021 season. He went 7-5 to help the Raiders qualify for the postseason.

The 2022 season was Bisaccia’s 21st as a special teams coordinator in the NFL.

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4 options for Colts to replace Bubba Ventrone

Here are four options the Colts can consider to replace Bubba Ventrone.

The Cleveland Browns hired former Indianapolis Colts special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone last week.

The move ended weeks of speculation about Ventrone’s status with the organization and left a significant void to fill both on the field and in the locker room.

Ventrone is a phenomenal coach whose talents catapulted the Colts’ special teams unit to elite ranking. Replacing him will be difficult, but the team has some formidable options to consider under new head coach Shane Steichen.

Here are four options for replacing Bubba Ventrone:

Colts reportedly find new head coach; Rich Bisaccia staying with Packers

The Colts reportedly have a new head coach, meaning Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia should be staying in Green Bay.

The Indianapolis Colts held an extensive search looking for their new head coach, but the team has reportedly made a decision and will hire Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. This is very good news for the Green Bay Packers.

The Colts had interviewed many candidates during their search, including Packers’ special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, who was brought back for a second interview. Prior to joining Green Bay, Bisaccia took over as the Las Vegas interim head coach during the 2021 season and led the Raiders to the playoffs. He was also beloved by his players.

In their first year under Bisaccia, the Packers’ special teams unit was able to take a big step forward. After ranking last on several occasions over the last decade, Green Bay ranked 22nd this past year in Rich Gosselin’s annual special teams rankings, including a jump in several key areas, and by the end of the season, this group was playing at even a much higher level than that. 

Although it’s not always easy to decipher a coach’s impact on special teams, with Bisaccia, there were fewer major miscues, especially as the season went on, and we saw the development of young players with Tariq Carpenter, Tyler Davis, and Isaiah McDuffie becoming core members of the special teams unit across multiple phases. 

Two other important factors in the Packers’ turnaround were a greater emphasis on special teams in practice and throughout the building, something that Matt LaFleur acknowledged, along with players being held to higher standards. Special teams went from an afterthought in Green Bay to a point of emphasis under Bisaccia.

“I really like what we did as a teams unit this year,” Brian Gutekunst said. “A lot of respect for Rich and how he goes about things. I think the thing I liked the most was the play style of those guys. Not only the effort and intensity but then the pride they took in it. The cover teams were as good as they’ve been here in a long time.”

We also saw GM Brian Gutekunst take a new approach by signing special teams specific players. While this sounds simple, it’s not something the Packers had done previously, with offensive and defensive contributions taking priority. However, the likes of Dallin Leavitt, Eric Wilson, Keisean Nixon, and Rudy Ford were all crucial to the Packers’ success.

There are still certainly areas where this unit can improve, including the blocking up front, with Green Bay leading the NFL with four blocked kicks allowed. But with Bisaccia returning and entering his second season with the Packers, he will now have the opportunity to further leave his mark on this unit as the players become more comfortable with his scheme, coaching philosophy, and their responsibilities. Although not an apples-to-apples comparison, the Packers’ offense really took off in Year 2 under LaFleur.

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