After what feels like an eternity of waiting, the Green Bay Packers have finally made a move to shore up their struggling special teams unit.<\/p>\n
Almost two weeks ago, former special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Rich Bisaccia stepped down, and this past Friday, the Packers announced the hiring of Cameron Achord after a pretty extensive search.<\/p>\n
While a fresh face on the Green Bay coaching staff is certainly a great start, there\u2019s plenty of work left to do.<\/p>\n
Who is Cameron Achord?<\/p>\n
On paper, Cameron Accord has been a pretty average coordinator thus far.<\/p>\n
In his first year at the head of the Patriots in 2018, he put together the NFL\u2019s best special teams unit, but it\u2019s been a mixed bag since, with finishes of 18th, 32nd, 25th, 19th, and 4th, with both of the past two seasons being spent as an assistant with the New York Giants.<\/p>\n
Despite the mixed results however, there is something to be said for the coaching tree that Accord worked under, his overall experience, and the response from his players.<\/p>\n
Achord served on Bill Belichick\u2019s staff in New England, and under Joe Judge, who was one of the league\u2019s best special teams coordinators before briefly becoming a head coach.<\/p>\n
He was also part of a Super Bowl winning staff in 2018, which is undoubtedly the Packers\u2019 goal, and his seven years of knowledge will continue to add to Green Bay\u2019s recent infusion of more experienced coaches.<\/p>\n
One of the things that I found most encouraging was a ringing endorsement from former Patriot Matthew Slater, who was arguably the best special teams player in the NFL throughout his career.<\/p>\n
In 2020, when Accord was promoted from assistant to coordinator for the Patriots, Slater called him \u201c\u2026a bright young coach who really relates well to players, but has the player\u2019s respect\u2026\u201d that he was \u201c\u2026really confident in.\u201d<\/p>\n
That seems to bode well for the Packers and their players as well, as many had a great relationship with Bisaccia that will hopefully carry over with Achord as well.<\/p>\n
Creating a Focus<\/p>\n
As I mentioned a few weeks ago in my article<\/a> about Rich Bisaccia\u2019s apparent retainment, there\u2019s more to the special teams issue than just the man wearing the headset.<\/p>\n The Green Bay Packers have been neglectful of their special teams for some time now, and for Cameron Achord to have success, the front office will need to give him a bit more to go off of.<\/p>\n That should first come in the form of a real return specialist, which the team has lacked since Keisean Nixon<\/a> became CB1.<\/p>\n Coach Accord has a history of developing great kick and punt returners, producing a pair of All-Pros in Gunner Olszewski and Marcus Jones during his time in New England, and if he could bring that pedigree to Green Bay, the impact would be significant.<\/p>\n