Why was ST Coach Rich Bisaccia hired?

[Nirvana]

See a lot of questioning about draft picks and such but not about this guy. I want to revisit this hiring as it's not clear to me what this guy brings to the table, and in fact may be a liability we are about to experience in full.

Most recently coached the Chargers special teams the last two years, but wait a second, weren't those bad special teams units? Why was he not kept with the Chargers - he moved down to the college level after the 2012 season, then leaves that 21 days later to coach with the Cowboys. He used to coach special teams for the Bucs when Monte Kiffin was there, so they coached together for many years.

 

[Vanilla2]

He was hired to be the special teams coach.

 

[Nirvana]

He was hired to be the special teams coach.

how is he better than the last one?

 

[RoyTheHammer]

He was hired to be the special teams coach.

BA, dum.. bump!

lol

 

[Vanilla2]

how is he better than the last one?

Not sure.

Season hasn't started.

 

[Nirvana]

we got some great minds to run our defense, and our offense, why did we go with this guy for special teams? His pedigree is not impressive.

 

[Vanilla2]

The last guy was supposed to come in and wreck ****.

How'd that work?

Lets let this thing play out a bit and go from there.

 

[SportsGuru80]

I'm hoping for improved play now that the 53 is about to be established...

 

[Vanilla2]

I'm hoping for improved play now that the 53 is about to be established...

Cowboys seemed like a team with a whole lot of guys who had no interest in playing special teams playing special teams.

 

[SportsGuru80]

Cowboys seemed like a team with a whole lot of guys who had no interest in playing special teams playing special teams.

I agree....

 

[Bullflop]

It's tough to judge ST play when a new ST coach takes over a group he's unfamiliar with. He has to attempt making a favorable impression in the preseason when various player combinations are being tried. Now that the ST units are established, perhaps we'll get a fair idea of what we'll see this year during the regular season. It takes time.

 

[gimmesix]

See a lot of questioning about draft picks and such but not about this guy. I want to revisit this hiring as it's not clear to me what this guy brings to the table, and in fact may be a liability we are about to experience in full.

Most recently coached the Chargers special teams the last two years, but wait a second, weren't those bad special teams units? Why was he not kept with the Chargers - he moved down to the college level after the 2012 season, then leaves that 21 days later to coach with the Cowboys. He used to coach special teams for the Bucs when Monte Kiffin was there, so they coached together for many years.

And this:

Rich Bisaccia, a special teams coach credited for helping turn around the team's disastrous 2010 unit, has accepted a similar position at Auburn. He will be the university's assistant head coach in charge of special teams and running backs.

Under his two-year guidance, an Achilles' heel of the Chargers became a strength.

The team finished the year with a Micheal Spurlock punt return in Week 16 and kickoff return in Week 17 for a touchdown, as the Chargers wide receiver became the first player in franchise history to run back a kickoff and punt in consecutive weeks.

San Diego's coverage was also much improved, the main weakness in 2012 being three blocked punts in the second half of the year.

In 2010, the Chargers had four punts blocked with a deflection, allowed three kickoff returns for touchdowns, and ceded 18.9 yards per punt return, worst in the NFL since 1976.

In Bisaccia's two seasons, the unit allowed only one return score, coming on the 2011 season-opening kickoff. This year, its kickoff coverage team forced opponents to start at an average of their own 20.4-yard line, the third best coverage mark in the NFL.

 

[Macnalty]

His time for judgement starts with the Giants. Instant gratification on his value is not available.

 

[Lonestar94]

He was hired to be the special teams coach.

I agree with this guy. Its simple, he was hired to be a special teams coach, no way around this one.

Why else would he be hired, to be the offensive coordinator?

 

[Galian Beast]

People just expect instant results in this league. Especially fans of this team. There is no patience for developing things. Did the special teams look good? Well You have a new coach with a new system, and a ton of new players... most of which aren't even on the team now..., but they want to judge him by his lack of success already.

I'm not even going to judge him week 1. Week 3 or 4 if we're having significant trouble on special teams though, I'd certainly be worried. It would be nice if we don't have many punts or kicks actually returned in the beginning, but I think we brought in who we needed to shore up the special teams.

Truth is you have 10 non kicking players on special teams depending on which package is what, you're going to have your core guys involved, I think that is widely overlooked, and something that broadcast have done a poor job with.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

I agree we need to give him some time. They seemed to be experimenting by returning kicks they normally wouldn't, etc. Even Chris Jones seemed to kick it high, hitting the board twice. Those aren't normal strategies.

 

[SHAMSzy]

To coach ST /thread

 

[AbeBeta]

It borders on impossible to judge ST play in the preseason. There are just too many different players getting play on those units.

The ST coaches real work comes after the roster is set. He'll generally have 4-5 guys who he knows are set on a unit, but the others depend on who is active or inactive. So pretty much he's got to have several guys bottom of the roster guys who can work at various positions in case they are active. That's a tough situation but it is manageable with a 53 man roster - it is impossible when you are dealing with 75+ players

 

[iceman117]

how is he better than the last one?

can't be worse thats for sure

 

[Cowboy from New York]

It's hard to forget the number of bad ST plays we had over the last few years (Jets game, etc) The new guy gets a fair amount of slack imo to get a chance to improve on that.