“Disappointed” Matt LaFleur Hints He Wanted Rich Bisaccia to Return in 2026 Amid Sudden Departure

Rich Bisaccia surprised everyone in the Green Bay Packers organization today. The longtime special teams coordinator abruptly decided to step down Wednesday morning. He’s been with the team since 2022, served as assistant head coach, and will leave a massive hole in the coaching room that Matt LaFleur will undoubtedly feel.

This makes the second coordinator to leave the Packers this offseason, after Jeff Hafley was hired as head coach by the Miami Dolphins. LaFleur will now have his work cut out for him in finding replacements.

In a statement addressing Bisaccia’s leave, LaFleur sounded disappointed, hinting that he had expected him to return.

“While we are disappointed to lose a person and coach as valuable as Rich, we respect his decision to step down from the Packers,” ,” LaFleur told Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.

“Rich was a tremendous resource to me and our entire coaching staff who had a profound impact on our players and our culture throughout the building. We can’t thank him enough for his contributions to our team over the last four years,” added the head coach.

Bisaccia also shared a few remarks of his own after stepping down. He thanked LaFleur, Brian Gutekunst, Ed Policy, and Mark Murphy for their support during his time with the team. He added that he considered stepping down last offseason because he felt he had “failed” the team.

In reaction to the news, Packers fans expressed disappointment in Bisaccia. Not because he’s leaving, but because it took him so long to announce his departure. As a result, the team may now have fewer options to consider as a replacement. After all, their assistant special teams coordinator, Byron Storer, has already been poached.

Sure wish he would of done this earlier in the coaching process before a lot of the coach’s already have been hired. Heck our assistant special teams coach was already poached

— Eric (@Eric001989) February 18, 2026

If there’s one thing some fans are happy about, though, it’s that Bisaccia is gone. He struggled during his time in Green Bay, particularly when trying to find the right kicker. He handpicked Anders Carlson for the job, but Carlson had a subpar rookie season. Then, Brandon McManus missed two field goals and an extra point in a playoff loss to the Chicago Bears, leading to intense scrutiny of the special teams coordinator.

All in all, this departure might actually be good for LaFleur and the Packers. If they can find a proper replacement and fix the issues Bisaccia could not, then it’s addition by subtraction. But if the next coach runs into the same problems, it may simply be a stretch of bad kicking luck.