Packers Lose Another Potential Special Teams Coordinator Candidate

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Another one bites the dust.

The Green Bay Packers, a late entry into the field of teams seeking a special teams coordinator following this week’s departure of Rich Bisaccia, will have one fewer candidate to consider. Former Buffalo Bills coordinator Matthew Smiley, who was expected to be on coach Matt LaFleur’s list of interviews, “is expected” to be hired by South Carolina, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Friday morning.

Sources: South Carolina is expected to hire Matthew Smiley as the school's new special teams coordinator. He's worked in special teams in the NFL for more than a decade and was Buffalo's STC from 2022-24. He's been STC at Dartmouth, Eastern Illinois and Charleston Southern. pic.twitter.com/t0nrZKwx7n
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 20, 2026

Following a busy offseason on the coaching carousel, many of the proven coordinators landed on their feet.

Coaches on LaFleur’s interview list include:

Tom McMahon

Cameron Achord

Kyle Wilber

At least a couple rising assistants are on the interview list, as well.

Smiley got his first shot in the NFL as assistant special teams coordinator the Jaguars, a position he held from 2013 through 2016. After spending the 2017 through 2021 season as the Bills’ assistant coordinator, he was promoted to coordinator in 2022 and held the position for three seasons.

In Rick Gosselin’s special teams rankings, the Bills in 2021 finished eighth. Following the promotion of Smiley, they rose to fifth. However, in 2023, they fell to 28th in the final year of Gosselin’s rankings. In 2024, they were 27th in Packers On SI’s rankings.

After the 2024 season, Bills coach Sean McDermott gave Smiley a vote of confidence for 2025.

“Matthew has done a nice job,” McDermott said. "Listen, I know there are plays that have come up, and I know he doesn't feel great about them, nor do I. ... When you get some injuries like we had, in particular on the defensive side ... usually, the special teams coaches feel the cumulative effect because the special teams players get slid up into defensive roles and then [the coaches] are left with what's left in terms of, 'How can I formulate a group to go out there and play effectively?’”

A week later, Smiley was fired.

By DVOA, the Bills went from 19th in 2021 to first in 2022 to 15th in 2023 and 28th in 2024. With Jeff Rodgers taking over in 2025, the Bills improved to 15th in DVOA and tied for 17th in the Packers On SI rankings.

Smiley, who served in the Air Force, was the Bills’ Salute to Service nominee in 2024.

“Communication is very important,” he said during his introductory news conference. “I spent four years in the Air Force and was deployed a lot, and we would always work through what we called the fog of war. And it was that, ‘Wait, whose fault was it?’ No, no, no, that's not the right question. The right question is what can each individual do better in their specific area, and that's what I'm going to make sure that I try to encourage both from myself and the guys in the room.”

While Smiley is out of the running, his assistant in Buffalo might be in line for a promotion in Green Bay. Former NFL tight end Cory Parkey was Smiley’s assistant for all three seasons. In 2025, he joined the Packers as a quality-control coach on special teams. He’s not necessarily a coordinator candidate now but he could stick in that role or rise back to assistant coordinator by whoever’s hired.

“Cory Harkey has been phenomenal,” Smiley said. “He was a tight end for the St. Louis Rams before the move, then one year out there in L.A. to start, and was a four-core special teams guy. He's been great in the room, and he's picked everything up super-fast.

“He and I were talking this morning about the communication between himself, myself and some of the other assistants – the new, young guys that are helping us out on special teams – and it's part of his responsibility to kind of negotiate the communication with those guys for practice responsibilities. Cory works with some of the young guys after practice. He’s been a big help, and I think we're real fortunate that we found him.”

From 2005 through 2023, the Packers have had a top-10 special teams only once (2007). The Packers paid big bucks for Bisaccia, to no avail. In our rankings, the Packers finished 20th in 2025, 22nd in 2024, 27th in 2023 and 17th in 2022.

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