Get to Know Green Bay's New Special Teams Coordinator: Cam Achord
The Green Bay Packers have hired Cameron Achord as their new special teams coordinator. The Packers reportedly interviewed at least seven different candidates over the last week to fill the position, but Matt LaFleur ultimately went with the 39-year-old. Achord was most recently an assistant special teams coach for the New York Giants, but before that, he was the special teams coordinator for the New England Patriots. The hire of Achord should be the final major hire in what was a busy coaching carousel.
The Packers were left searching for a new special teams coordinator after Rich Bisaccia unexpectedly stepped down from the position on February 17. It was reported today that Bisaccia will become the special teams coordinator at Clemson University. Bisaccia’s departure put the Packers in a difficult position because most of the top candidates had already been hired.
"While we are disappointed to lose a person and coach as valuable as Rich, we respect his decision to step down from the Packers," Matt LaFleur said. "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. We wish Rich, his wife, Jeanne, and the rest of their family all the best moving forward."
Looking ahead, the Packers are hoping Achord can provide some stability to their special teams units. The Packers hired Bisaccia in 2022 to help stabilize their special teams units after Shawn Mennega and Maurice Drayton both struggled to produce competent units. Keisean Nixon earned two All-Pro nods for kick returning under Bisaccia, and Daniel Whelan had one of the best punting seasons in team history. Aside from those bright spots, Bisaccia’s overall units were near the bottom of the league. Per the Packers on SI rankings, his groups finished 20th, 22nd, 27th, and 17th. Special teams have plagued the Packers for the last decade or more, so the hope is that Achord can just help make their special teams units average.
Packers name Cam Achord special teams coordinator
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) February 27, 2026
Achord's Unexpected Path to the NFL
Cameron Achord comes to the Packers with nearly ten years of NFL coaching experience, but it wasn’t a conventional path to the NFL. Achord was born and raised in Brookhaven, Mississippi. He went on to play free safety at Belhaven University, a NAIA school in Mississippi. He was a four-year starter and a two-time team captain. He earned All-Mid-South Conference honors once and NAIA Academic All-American honors twice.
Achord's coaching career got started in 2010 as a special teams graduate assistant at the University of Southern Mississippi. He spent two years in that role and then moved to the offensive side of the ball for one season. In 2013, Achord joined the Southwest Mississippi Community College football staff. He served in many roles during his five-year tenure there, including special teams coordinator, quarterbacks coach, running backs coach, tight ends coach, and offensive coordinator. He was even named the interim head coach for a short time.
The New England Patriots came calling in 2018, giving Achord his first chance to jump to the NFL. Bill Belichick and Joe Judge hired Achord as an assistant special teams coach. In his first season with the team, Achord won a Super Bowl and helped kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson earn a Pro Bowl selection. The following season, Achord helped Matthew Slater earn 1st team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors.
Achord was promoted to special teams coordinator in 2020 after Joe Judge left to become the head coach of the New York Giants. It was Achord’s first opportunity to be an NFL coordinator. Achord spent four years as the special teams coordinator, all under Bill Belichick. He helped produce the NFL's top special teams unit in his first season, but the results were inconsistent each year after.
After the Patriots and Belichick agreed to part ways following the 2023 season, Achord was not retained by new head coach Jerod Mayo. Instead, Achord was hired as an assistant special teams coach for the New York Giants. He remained in the role for two years, working under head coach Brian Daboll and special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial. New York’s ownership decided to clean house following the 2025 season, and Achord was not retained.
Patriots special teams coordinator Cam Achord says he usually drinks six or seven coffees followed by three Pepsis per day.
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) December 15, 2020
A Mixed Bag of Results
One thing Matt LaFleur always seems to value when putting together his staff is high-level experience. Achord has exactly that. He has multiple years of experience coordinating his own special teams units and has produced at the highest level. Additionally, Achord has helped multiple players earn All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. That said, he's also had some really inconsistent units. His track record is a mixed bag of results that makes it hard to know what to expect.
In Achord’s first season as a special teams coordinator, New England’s special teams finished first in Rick Gosselin’s annual special teams rankings. Achord had three players named All-Pros: punt returner Gunner Olszewski, punter Jake Bailey, and special teamer Matthew Slater. Achord inherited a strong, experienced group from Joe Judge, and Achord helped them perform at a high level. The Packers, on the other hand, haven’t had a top-ranked special teams in decades. Unfortunately, that seems to be Achord’s peak.
The 2021 season wasn’t nearly as strong. Using Gosselin’s rankings, the Patriots regressed from the top-ranked special teams all the way to the 18th-ranked special teams. A big part of the dip was inconsistency. Nick Folk made 92% of his field goal attempts, and Matthew Slater was named a 2nd-team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler, but the punt units were terrible. Jake Bailey’s net average dropped from 45.6 yards to 39.6 yards, and the team gave up three blocked punts.
2022 was more of the same. The Patriots ranked 16th in Gosselin’s rankings, but were dead last in DVOA. The Patriots struggled significantly on special teams, and they got worse as the season went on. Bailey’s punting continued to regress. The Patriots ended up putting him on injured reserve and brought in a different punter mid-season. New England also allowed three kick returns for touchdowns. The only bright spot was rookie punt returner Marcus Jones, who led the league in punt return yards and was named a 1st-team All-Pro.
Achord’s final season in New England was disappointing, to say the least. The team finished 13th in Gosselin’s rankings, but 28th in DVOA. They committed 17 penalties, which was the second-most in the NFL behind only - guess who? - the Packers. Rookie kicker Chad Ryland only made 64% of his kicks that season, including multiple key game-winning kicks. After Achord's peak in 2020, his units didn’t improve at all. In fact, they got worse year after year.
It’s hard to know what to make of these finishes. When Achord had really good and experienced players, his special teams units were strong. When he was forced to coordinate a special teams group that was riddled with injuries and full of younger players, his units were inconsistent. Green Bay typically likes to use younger, inexperienced players on their special teams units. The hope is that Achord can help provide some stability. Even at Achord’s worst, his units in New England were still fairly average, something that many Green Bay fans would welcome at this point.
Bill Belichick on retaining special teams coordinator Cam Achord after an up-and-down 2022 season: "Last year was last year; there were a lot of things that weren't good enough ... Good coach. Led the league in special teams in '20. I don't think that's the problem."
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) March 27, 2023
What Others Had To Say
It’s hard to know what the Packers are getting in Achord, but it’s almost certain to be much different from Bisaccia. Achord is described as a young, high-energy coach. The two things they have in common are that they are both said to be strong teachers and hard workers. "Those guys work really hard,” Belichick said about Achord and his staff. “Cam learned from Joe (Judge) and has worked hard to learn, while working on a lot of things on his own. Nobody works harder than Cam. Cam is very well-prepared and is an excellent teacher. He's done a good job for us.”
Everyone within the Packers organization spoke highly of Rich Bisaccia. He was a strong culture guy who had earned the love and respect of others. It’s hard to envision Achord replicating that, but he did it before in New England. “I’m really confident in Cam,” said five-time All-Pro Matthew Slater. “He is a bright young coach who really relates well to the players, but has the players’ respect.”
Slater was selected to the Pro Bowl ten times as a special teams player, so if anyone knows about special teams, it’s him. His endorsement of Achord should carry some weight. "I think he did a great job this year. He had some added responsibility. I think he did a great job of handling it,” Slater detailed. “Conceptually, he understands how the team wants to play. He understands the skill sets the players have and putting them in position to have success. He did a good job of learning from Joe and Bill.”
The Packers have been content with below-average special teams units over the last decade, but it needs to be better. They have lost too many important games because of special teams blunders. The Packers don’t need to be top-five in special teams. They don’t even need to be top ten. If they can just become a league-average special teams under Achord, that’s a win. Can Achord provide that? Only time will tell.
Filed Under: Packers NewsFeaturedGreen Bay PackersCarter Semb
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Carter Semb is a lifelong Packer fan, shareholder, and season ticket holder. He is a contributor for Cheesehead TV and Packers Talk. For commentary surrounding Wisconsin sports, he can be found on X at @cmsemb.
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NFL Categories: Green Bay PackersTags: Cam AchordMatt LaFleurRich Bisaccia
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