{"id":760073,"date":"2026-02-18T10:11:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T10:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/760073\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T10:11:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T10:11:14","slug":"a-statistical-look-at-the-packers-special-teams-coordinator-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/760073\/","title":{"rendered":"A statistical look at the Packers\u2019 special teams coordinator options"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rich Bisaccia is out of a job with the Green Bay Packers<\/a>. Today, I want to construct a statistical analysis of the Packers\u2019 remaining options to replace Bisaccia.<\/p>\n

Bisaccia stepped away from his post in Green Bay after the other 11 vacancies league-wide were already filled. Among those 11 \u201cnew\u201d hires, 8 of them held the title of special teams coordinator at the NFL in 2025, too, only with a different team.<\/p>\n

Among those three \u201cnew\u201d coaches who weren\u2019t already NFL special teams coordinators in 2025 is the Las Vegas Raiders\u2019 Joe DeCamillis, who was previously the special teams coordinator of South Carolina, but had spent 30 years in the NFL as a special teams coordinator before then. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair to call him a fresh face.<\/p>\n

The only two special teams coordinators in the NFL who hadn\u2019t previously been in the big chair, at least as it stands right now, are Byron Storer, Bisaccia\u2019s right-hand man who took the Cleveland Browns\u2019 job after serving him with four organizations dating back to 2010, and Anthony Levine, a former Packers player who was internally promoted within the Baltimore Ravens\u2019 organization.<\/p>\n

Yes, not only have nine former NFL special teams coordinators already found new special teams coordinator jobs, but the only two new faces at the position league-wide are a former Packers coach and a former Packers player. At this point, I think the universe is rallying against our special teams<\/a>. We\u2019ve done horrible things in a past life.<\/p>\n

With all that out of the way, I want to do a deep dive into the career resumes of special teams coordinators from the 2024 and 2025 NFL seasons who aren\u2019t already in a special teams coordinator role right now. Based on NFL hiring trends, the Packers will probably look for a retread, and retreads have usually coached in the league within the last two seasons.<\/p>\n

So, we\u2019re going to take a look at how these available special teams coordinator candidates stack up over their last five years on that job (if they\u2019ve coached five seasons) based on their team\u2019s DVOA special teams rankings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s take a look at Bisaccia for a baseline. This is what the Packers had, but no longer have.<\/p>\n

2021: Las Vegas Raiders – interim head coach (21st)2022: Green Bay Packers (17th)2023: Green Bay Packers (31st)2024: Green Bay Packers (15th)2025: Green Bay Packers (21st)Average: 21.0<\/p>\n

Averaging a 21st-ranked special teams unit isn\u2019t terrible, but the \u201cwefense\u201d was truly terrible in 2023. Bisaccia\u2019s expertise was really in the coverage game<\/a>, as only one team (Washington) was better on both punts and kickoffs, per DVOA, than the Packers in 2025. The other four phases, though, dragged down his average.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get onto the options on the board for Green Bay.<\/p>\n

Todd McMahon (free agent)<\/p>\n

2021: Denver Broncos (30th)2022: Las Vegas Raiders (12th)2023: Las Vegas Raiders (13th)2024: Las Vegas Raiders (17th)2025: Las Vegas Raiders (28th)Average: 20.0<\/p>\n

Todd McMahon was actually Rich Bisaccia\u2019s replacement in Las Vegas and averaged a 14.0 special teams under Josh McDaniels and Antonio Pierce, until the massive falloff in 2025 under head coach Pete Carroll. McMahon was fired mid-season by the Raiders and has not yet been hired by another NFL team for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

Chase Blackburn (Falcons assistant special teams coach)<\/p>\n

2020: Carolina Panthers (16th)2021: Carolina Panthers (24th)2023: Los Angeles Rams (32nd)2024: Los Angeles Rams (19th)2025: Los Angeles Rams (26th)Average: 23.4<\/p>\n

Chase Blackburn was the guy who Sean McVay fired mid-season this past year. The unit didn\u2019t get noticeably better under the interim. He\u2019s now an assistant special teams coach under Craig Aukerman in Atlanta. Aukerman was the special teams coordinator with the Tennessee Titans when Matt LaFleur was the team\u2019s offensive coordinator in 2018, for what that\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n

Thomas McGaughey (free agent)<\/p>\n

2021: New York Giants (11th)2022: New York Giants (22nd)2023: New York Giants (21st)2024: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (26th)2025: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (27th)Average: 21.4<\/p>\n

After the 2025 season, Thomas McGaughey was fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who went big-game hunting at the position. They had interest in signing Michael Clay, whose deal had expired before he re-signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Buccaneers ended up signing Danny Smith, a 29-year veteran.<\/p>\n

Marquice Williams (free agent)<\/p>\n

2021: Atlanta Falcons (22nd)2022: Atlanta Falcons (5th)2023: Atlanta Falcons (27th)2024: Atlanta Falcons (29th)2025: Atlanta Falcons (29th)Average: 22.4<\/p>\n

Marquice Williams is a name I found interesting when I made my first list of potential special teams coordinator candidates<\/a>, if only because he was a coordinator under both Arthur Smith and Raheem Morris, two coaches with LaFleur ties, in Atlanta. Outside of one random year in 2022, though, his units have averaged a 26.8-ranked special teams over his career. Not great.<\/p>\n

Matthew Smiley (free agent)<\/p>\n

2022: Buffalo Bills (1st)2023: Buffalo Bills (15th)2024: Buffalo Bills (28th)Average: 14.7<\/p>\n

This is by far the most unique resume on the books. Matthew Smiley had the first-ranked special teams unit in 2022, but the Buffalo Bills slipped to 15th and then 28th over the next two years. He currently doesn\u2019t have a job in the NFL and was out of the league in 2025, too.<\/p>\n

His number two man in Buffalo was Cory Harkey, who was the Packers\u2019 number three man in 2025. Harkey is the last man standing in Green Bay right now, after Rich Bisaccia stepped down and Byron Storer left for a promotion in Cleveland.<\/p>\n

Brian Schneider (Commanders assistant special teams coordinator)<\/p>\n

2019: Seattle Seahawks (20th)2021: Jacksonville Jaguars (31st)2022: San Francisco 49ers (15th)2023: San Francisco 49ers (25th)2024: San Francisco 49ers (31st)Average: 24.4<\/p>\n

Brian Schneider is a Pete Carroll guy (USC 2009, Seattle 2010 to 2020), but he is not related to Seahawks general manager John Schneider, who previously worked in the Green Bay Packers\u2019 front office. You might see Schneider credited for the 2020 Seattle season, but he stepped down for personal reasons on September 11th of that year.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not surprising that he landed in San Francisco, where a lot of former Carroll tree guys have migrated to (Robert Saleh, Gus Bradley, etc.), and then found work under Dan Quinn, a former Carroll defensive coordinator, in Washington. Quinn was also LaFleur\u2019s head coach during their time in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

Colt Anderson (49ers assistant special teams coordinator)<\/p>\n

2024: Tennessee Titans (32nd)Average: 32.0<\/p>\n

The 49ers were 13th in special teams DVOA last year when Colt Anderson was the assistant special teams coordinator under Brant Boyer, but I\u2019m not sure that washes the stink off of Anderson\u2019s lone season in the big chair. With the Tennessee Titans in 2024, Anderson\u2019s unit ranked dead last in the NFL.<\/p>\n

Ben Kotwica (Broncos senior special teams assistant)<\/p>\n

2019: Atlanta Falcons (28th)2020: Atlanta Falcons (20th)2023: Denver Broncos (9th)2024: Denver Broncos (4th)2025: Los Angeles Rams – interim (26th)Average: 17.4<\/p>\n

Our last name on the list here is Ben Kotwica, who was the interim special teams coordinator for Sean McVay. He\u2019s the one who gets at least some blame for the Rams losing in the NFC Championship Game, because of a muffed punt that set up a one-play touchdown drive for the Seahawks, who won the game by four points. Kotwica has returned to Denver, where he had some success before being given the boot to make room for Darren Rizzi, whom Broncos head coach Sean Payton previously coached with in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

Kotwica previously worked under head coaches Dan Quinn and McVay, who were also LaFleur\u2019s head coaches earlier in his career.<\/p>\n

14.7: Matthew Smiley (free agent)17.4: Ben Kotwica (Broncos senior special teams assistant)20.0: Todd McMahon (free agent)21.0: Rich Bisaccia21.4: Thomas McGaughey (free agent)22.4: Marquice Williams (free agent)23.4: Chase Blackburn (Falcons assistant special teams coach)24.4: Brian Schneider (Commanders assistant special teams coordinator)32.0: Colt Anderson (49ers assistant special teams coordinator)<\/p>\n

The only special teams coordinator from the 2024 or 2025 seasons who is both available and has an above-average resume over their last five seasons on the job is Matthew Smiley, who has been out of the league since the conclusion of the 2024 season. Even then, he\u2019s only just barely beating the average allegations, and his unit slipped from 1st to 15th to 28th in his three years on the job.<\/p>\n

Maybe the Packers need to hire a first-timer. If they\u2019re looking at what\u2019s available on February 17th, the veteran options just aren\u2019t very inspiring. It would have been a different story if this happened earlier in the offseason. The NFL is a retread league, especially at special teams coordinator, but there aren\u2019t a lot of good alternatives this late in the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rich Bisaccia is out of a job with the Green Bay Packers. Today, I want to construct a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[7,41,345,52919,97481,2514,2513,6,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-760073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-green-bay","10":"tag-green-bay-packers","11":"tag-green-bay-packers-analysis","12":"tag-green-bay-packers-coaching-staff","13":"tag-greenbay","14":"tag-greenbaypackers","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-packers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116091098474519185","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}