Clemson Adds Rich Bisaccia as Special Teams Coordinator

CLEMSON, S.C. — Head Coach Dabo Swinney and Clemson Football announced that Clemson has added long-time NFL special teams coach Rich Bisaccia as Special Teams Coordinator. The hire was finalized Wednesday by the Clemson University Board of Trustees Compensation Committee.

“His experience and expertise in all things football — not just special teams — is a huge value to us,” said Swinney, whose full comments are included below. “He’s a leader of men, and I think his perspective and his lens joining our organization will be incredibly valuable even beyond the impact that he’ll make on our special teams.”

The hire marks Bisaccia’s return to Clemson, where he spent five seasons coaching the Tigers’ running backs and special teams from 1994-98. In the time since, Bisaccia (“bih-SAHTCH-ee-uh”) became one of the most respected special teams coaches in the NFL, spending 24 years as an NFL special teams coordinator from 2002-25.

“I am really excited to have the opportunity to work with the young men in the Clemson Football program and be part of a tremendous staff,” Bisaccia said. “After I made the decision to move in a new direction, Coach Swinney approached me with the opportunity to come back to a place that holds special meaning for me and my family. I’m thrilled to be able to return to the Clemson community and serve this program in any way I can.”

In total, Bisaccia is a 43-year coaching veteran across the collegiate and professional levels. He most recently spent four seasons with the Green Bay Packers from 2022-25, adding assistant head coach duties for the final three years of his tenure.

Bisaccia began his coaching career as a defensive backs and special teams coach at Wayne State in 1983. He spent an additional four seasons there as a quarterbacks and wide receivers coach before coaching at South Carolina from 1988-93 in advance of his first stint at Clemson. He spent three seasons at Ole Miss from 1999-2001 before embarking upon a 24-year arc in the NFL that included 11 top-10 rankings in kickoff return average.

In his first NFL season in 2002, Bisaccia helped guide the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to their first Super Bowl title as kicker Martin Gramatica tied for the NFL lead with 32 field goals and Tampa Bay ranked fourth in the league in kickoff return average (24.1). He would spend nine seasons in total with Tampa Bay before overseeing special teams for the San Diego Chargers from 2011-12.

Bisaccia spent five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys from 2013-17, leading a unit that ranked fifth in the NFL over that span in kickoff return average (24.2). He then spent four seasons with the Raiders across their residencies in Oakland and Las Vegas from 2018-21. In 2021, he was named as the Raiders’ interim head coach, and he guided the team to a 7-5 finish for a 10-7 overall mark to qualify for the franchise’s first postseason appearance since 2016.

A native of Yonkers, N.Y., Bisaccia was a four-year starter at defensive back for Yankton (S.D.) College from 1979-82, including serving as a team captain in 1982 and earning all-conference honors in each of his final two seasons. He and his wife, Jeanne, have four children: Michele, Elizabeth, Madeline and Richard Oakley, and five grandchildren.

FULL COMMENTS FROM HEAD COACH DABO SWINNEY:
“I’m super excited to add Rich Bisaccia. Obviously, he has been an NFL head coach and he’s been in the NFL a long time, but he also has really good college experience, in particular in the 90s here at Clemson, a place he’s always loved.

“I’ve gotten to know him over the years, and we’ve actually talked a couple of different times about the possibility of him joining our staff. It just never really could work out from a timing standpoint or because the way the rules were set up in college. But with the changing of the rules to allow everybody to coach on the field and where he was in his career, he really wanted to finish here at Clemson. I’m super excited it worked out for us too, because this is as good a special teams coach as there has been in the NFL for a long, long time.

“I love his experience. I love that he cares about me and he loves Clemson in particular. I think that’s great, but his experience and expertise in all things football — not just special teams — is also a huge value to us. He’s a leader of men, and I think his perspective and his lens joining our organization will be incredibly valuable even beyond the impact that he’ll make on our special teams.

“So I’m just super excited to have he and Jeanne, his wife, joining the Clemson Family. He’s got a beautiful family, with his daughters and a son all grown and grandkids. It’s the right time and I’m thankful that it worked out for him to join us here at Clemson and help us take Clemson back to the top.”

FULL COMMENTS FROM SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR RICH BISACCIA:
“I am really excited to have the opportunity to work with the young men in the Clemson Football program and be part of a tremendous staff. After I made the decision to move in a new direction, Coach Swinney approached me with the opportunity to come back to a place that holds special meaning for me and my family. I’m thrilled to be able to return to the Clemson community and serve this program in any way I can.”