Clemson Tigers Expected to Hire Veteran NFL Special Teams Coordinator

More than two months after former Clemson special teams coordinator Will Gilchrist departed for Samford, along with several other staffers, head coach Dabo Swinney has finally found his replacement.

That replacement is expected to be longtime NFL special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, pending a background check and board of trustees approval, as first reported by Tiger Illustrated's Larry Williams.

Bisaccia stepped down from his roles as special teams coordinator/assistant head coach with the Green Bay Packers on February 17. He had held his special teams position since 2022 and the assistant head coach job since 2023.

Swinney hinted at the hire last week during a press conference, saying he was "close" to finalizing a decision — and just a few days later, that appears to be coming to fruition.

Bisaccia has nearly four decades of experience across the professional and collegiate ranks, beginning with a four-year playing career at Yankton College, where he was a two-time all-conference defensive back at the NAIA level.

Coaching Career

Bisaccia began his coaching career at the collegiate level, working as a defensive backs, special teams, quarterbacks and wide receivers coach at Wayne State — a Division II program — before joining South Carolina as a graduate assistant and tight ends/wide receivers coach in 1988.

He spent the next five seasons with the Gamecocks, serving in multiple different roles — primarily as the special teams coach — in his half-decade tenure.

Interestingly enough, Bisaccia then landed with Clemson from 1994 to 1998, where he served as the program's running backs and special teams coach. He then spent one year with Ole Miss in the same role before being promoted to assistant head coach while maintaining his two other positions in 2000 and 2001.

After gaining nearly 20 years of coaching experience in the NCAA, Bisaccia made the jump to the NFL in 2002 — a level he'd stay at for the next two decades.

In 2002, Bisaccia joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the special teams coordinator and helped them win a Super Bowl in his first year. He spent the next four years in that role before additionally operating as the assistant head coach from 2008 to 2010.

He would stay in that role for over the next decade, working with the San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders.

The most memorable stretch of Bisaccia's career came with the Raiders, when he was named interim head coach in 2021 following Jon Gruden's resignation. He led the team to a solid 7-5 record and became the first interim head coach since Bruce Arians with the 2012 Indianapolis Colts to lead his team to a postseason berth.

As mentioned before, Bisaccia spent the past four seasons in Green Bay, serving as the special teams coordinator and assistant head coach.

Looking Ahead

Bisaccia steps into a program that has spread special teams duties across multiple assistants.

He'll oversee a unit that has been a collaborative effort among longtime cornerbacks coach Mike Reed, who also serves as co-special teams coordinator, assistant defensive backs coach DeAndre McDaniel, Lorenzo Ward, Ryan Allen, and analyst Jody Evans — all of whom have carried a piece of the special teams load.

With Bisaccia now at the helm, Clemson will look to consolidate that leadership under one of the more experienced special teams minds in the country.