Aaron Rodgers' Cal Teammate Byron Storer Named Packers Assistant
Byron Storer, who was a teammate of Aaron Rodgers at Cal in 2003 and 2004, has been hired by the Packers as an assistant special teams coach, according to ESPN's Field Yates. Special teams were Green Bay's weakest phase all season long, and they cost the Packers the game against San Francisco in in the playoffs.
Storer was a fullback at Cal from 2003 through 2006, and he caught one pass from Rodgers while with the Golden Bears. It was a 7-yard reception in a game against Utah in 2003. It was the last game in which Rodgers was not the Bears' starting quarterback, as he was promoted to starter in the following week's game against Illinois.
Storer caught two more passes in 2004, which was Rodgers final season at Cal, and one went for a 58-yard touchdown. But both of those passes were thrown by Reggie Robertson late in games when the outcome was already decided and Rodgers had been removed from the game.
Storer was primarily a blocking back but he had four carries in 2003 and four more in 2004 and totaled 14 rushing yards those two seasons.
He was a bigger factor after Rodgers left. Storer started six games in 2006, when caught eight passes and ran the ball eight times for 61 yards.
However, Storer's biggest contributions came on special teams. Three times (2004, 2005, 2006) he was named a second-team, all-Pac-10 special teams player. in 2006, when he was the Bears' starting fullback in six games. He had six special-teams tackles in 2006, nine in 2005 and seven in 2004.
He played two seasons in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and started six games.
Storer was later a special teams assistant coach for the Bucs, Chargers and Raiders before being hired by the Packers at the same position -- special teams assistant.
Special teams were the weak link for the Packers all season, and it finally caught up to them in Green Bay's opening playoff game this season. In that game, the Packers had a field goal blocked and they had a punt blocked that the 49ers returned for a touchdown. Those two plays turned the game in favor of the 49ers, who won 13-10.
The Packers fired special teams coach Maurice Drayton after the 2021 season and last week hired Rich Bisaccia for that position. Storer will be Bisaccia's assistant.
The Packers, of course, are pulling out all the stops to try to convince Rodgers to stay in Green Bay for the 2022 season.
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Cover photo of Byron Storer by Isaiah J. Downing, USA TODAY Sports
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