GREEN BAY — To hear Brian Gutekunst tell it, the Green Bay Packers weren’t in any way considering making a change with their special-teams coordinator. 

In fact, veteran assistant head coach Rich Bisaccia’s decision to step down from his posts 38 days after the team’s season-ending playoff loss to the Chicago Bears blindsided the organization — and head coach Matt LaFleur, who’s now in the market for someone new to run his special teams units.

Gutekunst, speaking to a small group of Wisconsin-based reporters at a downtown Indianapolis hotel during the annual NFL scouting combine, said Tuesday that he was under the impression that there are “some other opportunities” Bisaccia wanted to pursue.

“I wouldn’t say we were expecting it at all. It caught us by surprise,” Gutekunst said of the 65-year-old Bisaccia tendering his resignation after four years with the Packers. “[We’re] very appreciative for his run with us.

“I think he’s a fabulous football coach. It’s a big loss. But Matt’s going through [the interview process] now and hopefully we’ll be able to get that replaced.”

Asked if he expected Bisaccia to coach again, Gutekunst replied, “I would think so, but I’ll let Rich answer for that.”

When he made his announcement via a statement released by the organization, Bisaccia said he had taken “some time to reflect over the last few weeks,” and that it led to “the decision to step down” as both assistant head coach and special-teams coordinator.

In announcing Bisaccia’s departure, LaFleur said the organization was “disappointed to lose a person and coach as valuable as Rich” but that the club would “respect his decision,” wishing him and his family well.

“Rich was a tremendous resource to me and our entire coaching staff who had a profound impact on our players and our culture throughout the building,” LaFleur said in his statement. “We can’t thank him enough for his contributions to our team over the last four years.”

LaFleur has not spoken with reporters since the day after the team’s 31-27 NFC wild card playoff loss to the Bears on Jan. 10. Like many coaches in recent years, LaFleur isn’t attending the scouting combine, having stopped coming several years ago.

The timing of Bisaccia’s decision to step down meant nearly a dozen other NFL teams had hired new special-teams coordinators before Bisaccia called it quits. One of those was Byron Storer, Bisaccia’s right-hand man in Green Bay (and Las Vegas before that) who is the Cleveland Browns’ new coordinator.

Gutekunst, though, said he was looking at the situation as “glass half full” because the Packers won’t be competing with a host of other teams for their next coordinator.

LaFleur has reportedly interviewed at least four candidates: New York Giants assistant special teams coach Cam Achord; ex-Las Vegas Raiders special-teams coordinator Tom McMahon, who actually replaced Bisaccia after Bisaccia departed for the Packers in 2022; Arizona Cardinals assistant special teams coach Sam Sewell; and New Orleans Saints assistant special teams coach Kyle Wilber.

“This actually allows us to take our time. I think when you get into that coaching cycle, sometimes you’ve got to move fast without knowing everything you want to know about the candidates,” Gutekunst said. “Right now, we don’t have a lot of competition. so Matt’s taking his time, being really thorough.

“The candidates that he’s bringing in, I’m pretty excited about. So I know he’s going to spend some time with them this week and hopefully we’ll have that figured out sooner rather than later. But we’re not under any type of time crunch, which is nice.”

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