Feb. 27, 2026, 4:29 p.m. CT

The Green Bay Packers have a new special teams coordinator. Coach Matt LaFleur announced the hiring of Cam Achord as the team’s next special teams coordinator on Friday, or 10 days after Rich Bisaccia announced he was stepping down from the role.

Achord is 39 years old but has coached special teams at the NFL level for almost a decade, and he was once a coordinator under future Hall of Fame coach Bill Belichick in New England. Achord also won a Super Bowl as an assistant for the patriots following the 2018 season.

Here are five things to know about the Packers new special teams coordinator:

Coordinator experience

The Packers almost certainly wanted coordinator experience after losing Bisaccia, one of the longest tenured special teams coaches in football. LaFleur is getting that experience in Achord, who spent four years as the special teams coordinator in New England under Bill Belichick. While still only 39 years old, Achord has been a special teams coach in the NFL since 2018 — two years as an assistant under Joe Judge in New England, four years as a coordinator in New England and two years as an assistant under Michael Ghobrial in New York. It’s possible Achord’s four years of coordinator experience helped him beat out finalists Kyle Wilbur, Sam Sewell and Colt Anderson, who have just one combined season of coordinator experience (Anderson, 2024).

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.Standout start, sluggish finish in New England

After Joe Judge left to become the Giants head coach in 2020, Bill Belichick promoted Achord to special teams coordinator, and the Patriots immediately had a standout season in the third phase — finishing first among the 32 NFL teams in both Rick Gosselin’s rankings and by DVOA.

But it went downhill over the next three seasons. By Gosselin’s rankings, the Patriots finished 18th in 2021, 16th in 2022 and 13th in 2023. By DVOA, the Patriots 18th in 2021, 32nd in 2022 and 28th in 2023.

Jerod Mayo did not retain Achord as the coordinator after taking over as Patriots coach in 2024.

At PFF, the Patriots ranked 11th in special teams grade in 2020, sixth in 2021, 27th in 2022 and 20th in 2023. By any measure, New England’s special teams went from great to not so great over Achord’s four seasons.

Achord coached two All-Pro punt returners

Hoping the Packers improve returning punts in 2026? Achord could help. He previously coached Marcus Jones, a first-team All-Pro punt returner in 2022 and Gunner Olszewski, a first-team All-Pro punt returner in 2020. Both Jones and Olszewski returned punts for touchdowns during their respective All-Pro seasons — the Packers haven’t returned a punt for a touchdown since 2014. In 2023, the Patriots ranked third in kickoff return average, and Jalen Reagor returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. The Giants also returned a kickoff for a touchdown each of the last two seasons — Ihmir Smith-Marsette for 100 yards in 2024 and Deonte Banks for 95 yards in 2025.

Mississippi native

Achord was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, went to Brookhaven High School and then played collegiately at Belhaven, a DIII school in Jackson, Mississippi. He got his coaching start as a grad assistant at Southern Mississippi in 2010, coaching three years at the school before handling numerous roles at Southwest Mississippi Community College from 2013 to 2017. Achord played free safety in college but had experiences coaching the offensive side of the ball before joining the NFL on special teams. His ties through Joe Judge while in Mississippi helped Achord land the assistant job in New England in 2018.

Cam the Caffeinated

ESPN’s Rob Demovsky described Achord as a “high-energy, young coach.” Well, there might be a good reason for the “high energy” part. While in New England, Achord admitted he drinks a legendary amount of caffeine in a regular day:

Energy, whether derived naturally or chemically, shouldn’t be a problem for the new special teams coordinator in Green Bay.