After what feels like an eternity of waiting, the Green Bay Packers have finally made a move to shore up their struggling special teams unit.
Almost two weeks ago, former special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Rich Bisaccia stepped down, and this past Friday, the Packers announced the hiring of Cameron Achord after a pretty extensive search.
While a fresh face on the Green Bay coaching staff is certainly a great start, there’s plenty of work left to do.
Who is Cameron Achord?
On paper, Cameron Accord has been a pretty average coordinator thus far.
In his first year at the head of the Patriots in 2018, he put together the NFL’s best special teams unit, but it’s been a mixed bag since, with finishes of 18th, 32nd, 25th, 19th, and 4th, with both of the past two seasons being spent as an assistant with the New York Giants.
Despite the mixed results however, there is something to be said for the coaching tree that Accord worked under, his overall experience, and the response from his players.
Achord served on Bill Belichick’s staff in New England, and under Joe Judge, who was one of the league’s best special teams coordinators before briefly becoming a head coach.
He was also part of a Super Bowl winning staff in 2018, which is undoubtedly the Packers’ goal, and his seven years of knowledge will continue to add to Green Bay’s recent infusion of more experienced coaches.
One of the things that I found most encouraging was a ringing endorsement from former Patriot Matthew Slater, who was arguably the best special teams player in the NFL throughout his career.
In 2020, when Accord was promoted from assistant to coordinator for the Patriots, Slater called him “…a bright young coach who really relates well to players, but has the player’s respect…” that he was “…really confident in.”
That seems to bode well for the Packers and their players as well, as many had a great relationship with Bisaccia that will hopefully carry over with Achord as well.
Creating a Focus
As I mentioned a few weeks ago in my article about Rich Bisaccia’s apparent retainment, there’s more to the special teams issue than just the man wearing the headset.
The Green Bay Packers have been neglectful of their special teams for some time now, and for Cameron Achord to have success, the front office will need to give him a bit more to go off of.
That should first come in the form of a real return specialist, which the team has lacked since Keisean Nixon became CB1.
Coach Accord has a history of developing great kick and punt returners, producing a pair of All-Pros in Gunner Olszewski and Marcus Jones during his time in New England, and if he could bring that pedigree to Green Bay, the impact would be significant.
There’s also the issue of getting his bosses to move on from kicker Brandon McManus, as GM Brian Gutekunst again doubled down on him in his yearly pre-Combine presser, noting that “…he made thirty-two straight kicks…” before the playoff loss in Chicago.
If you watched the Packers at all this past season, that stat doesn’t really feel all that true.
Gutekunst also stressed that the Packers were better on special teams in 2025 than they had been in years, and while the underlying metrics do support that, the general consensus on the unit does not.
Regardless of what Green Bay is willing to do for better outcomes in 2026, it seems likely that Cameron Achord will be asked to bear a lot of the potential blame.
It’s Only Up From Here
With Rich Bisaccia stepping down so late in the cycle this offseason, the Green Bay Packers didn’t have all of the candidates that they likely would’ve considered available for hire.
Packers higher-ups were adamant that Bisaccia’s departure came as a surprise to the team, but I find it hard to believe that he would put the organization in such a disadvantageous position to hire his replacement so purposefully, especially if he plans to continue coaching.
Reports within the last few days have linked Bisaccia to Clemson football, and I imagine that that has been a consideration for him for a while now.
With Green Bay forced to make the last coordinator hire of the carousel, question marks can naturally be raised in regard to the decision on Cameron Achord, but in all honesty, it can only go up from here.
The Packers’ special teams has already hit rock bottom, and this abrupt transition will hopefully bring a new sense of urgency into this phase of the game.
If not, the Green Bay Packers are simply resigning themselves to the mistakes that cost them in 2025.
