{"id":760442,"date":"2026-02-18T14:18:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T14:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/760442\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T14:18:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T14:18:16","slug":"what-the-packers-missed-by-entering-the-special-teams-coordinator-market-late","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/760442\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Packers missed by entering the special teams coordinator market late"},"content":{"rendered":"

Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia stepped down on Tuesday<\/a>, to the surprise of many, as all 11 of the other special teams coordinator vacancies around the league had already been filled this offseason. To put this simply, it\u2019s not great to start a coaching search for any vacancy in mid-February, a week before the combine, let alone one at the coordinator level. Meetings about the team\u2019s 2026 path are already underway, per general manager Brian Gutekunst\u2019s press conference. It\u2019s not exactly like this is vacation time for the coaching staff. There is work to be done (specifically around free agency and roster construction leading up to the week-long tampering festival we call the combine) right now.<\/p>\n

Along those lines of the timing of this decision on Bisaccia\u2019s part, I\u2019ve seen some Packers fans asking the question about what the team might have missed out on this hire-fire cycle, in terms of special teams leadership. To build on our previous article, where we discussed the options still available for Green Bay on the open market<\/a>, I want to take a look at what could have been if the Packers started their search earlier.<\/p>\n

In total, nine previous NFL special teams coordinators were hired again to special teams coordinator roles in 2026. On top of that, another top coordinator had his contract expire, poked around in the market and returned to his previous team. We can evaluate those 10 coordinators\u2019 resumes, since we know what their groups have looked like when they\u2019re in charge, compared to assistant coaches rising to the coordinator level, who are true mystery boxes.<\/p>\n

How good are those hired veteran special teams coordinators, though, relative to what\u2019s left out there? Let\u2019s crunch some numbers to find out.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll use the same methodology as our previous article. We\u2019ll be referencing special teams DVOA rankings<\/a> for each 2026 hire\u2019s previous five years in the NFL at the coordinator level. After that, we\u2019ll average their score and rank them.<\/p>\n

Simple enough? Let\u2019s get started.<\/p>\n

Chris Horton (hired by the Giants)<\/p>\n

2021: Ravens (1st)2022: Ravens (3rd)2023: Ravens (3rd)2024: Ravens (23rd)2025: Ravens (12th)Average: 8.4<\/p>\n

We\u2019re going alphabetically here, but already Chris Horton has a better score than any of the 2024 and 2025 special teams coordinators still available on the market today. Now, to be fair, the fact that Horton followed John Harbaugh from Baltimore to New York probably means he was never considering leaving Harbaugh\u2019s side.<\/p>\n

2020: Bears (8th)2021: Bears (7th)2022: Panthers (8th)2023: Panthers (23rd)2025: Bills (15th)Average: 12.2<\/p>\n

Chris Tabor was hired from the Buffalo Bills to Jeff Hafley\u2019s Miami Dolphins nearly a month ago at this point<\/a>. Like Horton, Tabor ranks higher than any available special teams coordinators in this metric.<\/p>\n

2020: Titans (28th)2021: Titans (23rd)2022: Titans (24th)2023: Titans (24th)2025: Dolphins (9th)Average: 21.6<\/p>\n

Craig Aukerman was the special teams coordinator for the Tennessee Titans in 2018, the same year that Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was the offensive coordinator there. Maybe he would have been a candidate for the Packers if things moved more quickly this offseason.<\/p>\n

Danny Crossman (Steelers)<\/p>\n

2020: Dolphins (6th)2021: Dolphins (29th)2022: Dolphins (28th)2023: Dolphins (22nd)2024: Dolphins (11th)Average: 19.2<\/p>\n

Danny Crossman was out of the league in 2025 and was hired to Mike McCarthy\u2019s new staff with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was fired from Miami after having the 11th-ranked special teams unit, but they did improve slightly to 9th in 2025 under Craig Aukerman.<\/p>\n

2021: Steelers (17th)2022: Steelers (27th)2023: Steelers (20th)2024: Steelers (2nd)2025: Steelers (17th)Average: 16.6<\/p>\n

While his last five years\u2019 worth of results have been just average, Danny Smith is one of the more respected special teams coaches in the league, based on conversations I\u2019ve had with people in the special teams world. This is where I\u2019d like to point out that the Pittsburgh Steelers are 31st in cash spend on players since the pandemic<\/a>, $127 million below the NFL average. They are getting the \u201cmom and pop shop\u201d tag by a lot of people in the league, as it looks like they\u2019re trying to save on the margins. Smith might be getting some extra credit from people for what reality is like for working with the Steelers right now.<\/p>\n

Smith overlapped with LaFleur in their time together with the Washington Redskins. Maybe Smith is a Packers coordinator in another timeline.<\/p>\n

2021: Cardinals (20th)2022: Cardinals (20th)2023: Cardinals (11th)2024: Cardinals (18th)2025: Cardinals (30th)Average: 19.8<\/p>\n

Jeff Rodgers is another one of these guys whose reputation in the league exceeds what his recent resume shows. Rodgers was Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon\u2019s special teams coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals. Gannon didn\u2019t hire Rodgers to the team, but Gannon did retain Rodgers (and Rodgers\u2019 assistant head coach title) when he took over as the Cardinals\u2019 head coach in 2023.<\/p>\n

2018: Jaguars (4th)2019: Jaguars (6th)2020: Jaguars (18th)2021: Rams (4th)2022: Rams (23rd)Average: 11.0<\/p>\n

Joe DeCamillis, who has been coaching in college since 2023, was just signed by the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday<\/a>, so he was available to hire until very recently. At the college level, he was the third-highest paid special teams coordinator in America<\/a>, making $850,000 in 2025 for South Carolina. The Raiders likely had to pay a buyout to acquire him.<\/p>\n

Before his stints at Texas and South Carolina, he had 30 years of NFL special teams coordinator experience under his belt. His average rank over his last five seasons is better than any of the 2024 and 2025 NFL special teams coordinators who are currently available on the market.<\/p>\n

Michael Ghobrial (Cardinals)<\/p>\n

2024: Giants (22nd)2025: Giants (23rd)Average: 22.5<\/p>\n

This is the guy that Matt LaFleur\u2019s brother hired. Michael Ghobrial got his first job in the NFL in 2021 for Robert Saleh\u2019s New York Jets, when Mike LaFleur was the team\u2019s offensive coordinator. His run with the Giants wasn\u2019t great.<\/p>\n

2021: Colts (14th)2022: Colts (26th)2023: Browns (16th)2024: Browns (30th)2025: Browns (32nd)Average: 23.6<\/p>\n

Ray Ventrone is a former New England Patriots player and coach, but his recent resume isn\u2019t as impressive as you\u2019d assume for a Bill Belichick special teams disciple. I\u2019m gonna guess it was probably a little tough for Sean McVay to hire a new special teams coordinator after he canned two guys, who were veterans in the role, in the same season.<\/p>\n

2021: Eagles (15th)2022: Eagles (13th)2023: Eagles (1st)2024: Eagles (14th)2025: Eagles (24th)Average: 13.4<\/p>\n

Michael Clay\u2019s contract expired this offseason, and he interviewed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> (who wound up signing Danny Smith) before re-signing with the Philadelphia Eagles. He wasn\u2019t exactly like the special teams version of the Brian Flores sweepstakes, but it was roughly similar.<\/p>\n

Clay was a player for one year in the NFL before getting his start in coaching in Philadelphia under his college coach, Chip Kelly, who he followed to the San Francisco 49ers before returning to the Eagles. Clay had a better special teams average than the remaining 2024 and 2025 special teams coordinators not already filling that role for 1 of the other 30 NFL franchises right now.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the 2026 special teams coordinator signings, and the available 2024 and 2025 special teams coordinators not currently in that role, stack up using this metric. If a coach signed in 2026, his team will be in parentheses. If a coach doesn\u2019t have a parenthisis, he\u2019s still available for the Packers to sign today. Rich Bisaccia\u2019s name is bolded for perspective.<\/p>\n

8.4: Chris Horton (Giants)11.0: Joe DeCamillis (Raiders)12.2: Chris Tabor (Dolphins)13.4: Michael Clay (Eagles)14.7: Matthew Smiley16.6: Danny Smith (Buccaneers)17.4: Ben Kotwica19.2: Danny Crossman (Steelers)19.8: Jeff Rodgers (Bills)20.0: Todd McMahon21.0: Rich Bisaccia21.4: Thomas McGaughey21.6: Craig Aukerman (Falcons)22.4: Marquice Williams22.5: Michael Ghobrial (Cardinals)23.4: Chase Blackburn23.6: Ray Ventrone (Rams)24.4: Brian Schneider32.0: Colt Anderson<\/p>\n

This, obviously, sucks a lot of context out of coaches\u2019 evaluations, but it\u2019s at least one way to think about them. For example, I\u2019m sure it\u2019s easier for Chris Horton to put together a quality special teams unit under John Harbaugh, his head coach and a former special teams coordinator himself, than it is in Green Bay, where a lot of end-of-roster decisions end up going to draft and develop projects like undrafted rookie nose tackle Nazir Stackhouse, who played 7.1 defensive snaps per game over the first 17 weeks of the regular season last year.<\/p>\n

When I asked some guys who work special teams in the NFL about who the big names were going to be earlier on in the coaching cycle, Clay, Smith and Rodgers were the names I was told to keep an eye on. Smith and Rodgers seem to be living more off reputation, or maybe the context of their roster situations, than purely recent results, though.<\/p>\n

In total, there were technically five special teams coordinators who have put together above-average special teams units in their last five years on the job. Four of them have already been hired away.<\/p>\n

I think you can make the case that neither Horton (who followed Harbaugh) nor Clay (who re-signed with the Eagles) was actually available, based on the decisions they made this offseason. Then the list is down to three above-average special teams coordinators, one of whom is still available (Matthew Smiley), one who probably cost a decent buyout that the Packers might not have wanted to pay (Joe DeCamillis) and another who Jeff Hafley hired quickly (Chris Tabor).<\/p>\n

Smiley still lingers, but he\u2019s been out of the league since he was let go by the Bills, who are now on three special teams coordinators in three years, after the 2024 season. His three years as a special teams coordinator are odd, as this is how his units ranked:<\/p>\n

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

Above an average placement? Yes. Consistently? No. The Bills\u2019 2022 special teams unit burned bright in 2022 and then regressed in two consecutive seasons, going from elite to average to outright bad. As it stands today, though, Smiley is statistically the best coordinator option still out there, at least according to this metric.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia stepped down on Tuesday, to the surprise of many, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760443,"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-760442","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\/116092069887374010","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760442","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=760442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}