Raiders Coach Profile: Rich Bisaccia, Assistant Head Coach

Taking a deep dive look into Las Vegas Raiders Jon Gruden’s 2020 staff, we stop today at Rich Bisaccia, the assistant head coach.

We’re all counting down the clock until football is back. Now, it’s time to get to know the coaches. Today, we talk about the special team’s coordinator and assistant head coach, Rich Bisaccia.

Rich Bisaccia, Special Team’s Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach

Entering his third season with the Raiders and 19th in the league, Rich Bisaccia has spent his entire NFL coaching career as a special teams specialist, having stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Diego Chargers and most recently, the Dallas Cowboys.

In addition to his special teams duties, Bisaccia also has experience serving as an associate head coach in Tampa (2008-10), San Diego (2012), and as an assistant coach in Dallas (2015-17).

Back in 2018 when Bisaccia first arrived at the Raiders organization, his unit ranked third in the league when it came to punt return average (11.6 yards per return), and eighth in the league for an averaged starting position after kickoffs (25.8-yard line).

On his particular unit during Bisaccia’s inaugural season was former Cowboy Dwayne Harris, who Bisaccia had worked with in the past. Harris successfully took home AFC Player of the Week Honors in Weeks 4 and 16.

That same year, Harris averaged just over 14 yards per punt return, the second-best single-season mark in franchise history. This also tied for the league lead in 2018.

Bisaccia found success as soon as he joined the Raiders. He would continue the success the following season.

In 2019, Bisaccia's special team unit was just outside the top-10 in the league, averaging 23.2 yards per kickoff return. When it came to punt returns, the Raiders were smack in the middle of the league, averaging a flat 7.0 yards per punt return, or good for 17th.

Bisaccia’s punter, AJ Cole III, tied for ninth in the league, punting for an average of 46 yards per punt.

The one major struggle for Bisaccia’s special unit lies in the field goal unit. Last season, third-year kicker Daniel Carlson made 19-of-26 field goal attempts and was ranked 28th among kickers in the NFL.

Knowing this is the weak point, the Raiders and Bisaccia picked up undrafted free agent Dominik Eberle out of Utah State this off-season. During his time with the Aggies, Eberle had a school-record 64 field goals, including four from 50-plus yards.

The competition between Carlson and Eberle should help Bisaccia determine his starter for the 2020 campaign and hopefully bring consistency and success to the Raiders field goal unit.

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