Getty Head coach Matt LaFleur of the Green Bay Packers watches during pre-game warm-ups prior to the NFC Divisional Playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Field on January 22, 2022 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
The Green Bay Packers said goodbye to another coordinator Saturday but have already set up an interview with a former NFL head coach to replace him.
The Packers announced February 5 that head coach Matt LaFleur had officially fired special teams coordinator Maurice Drayton. On the same day, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein reported that LaFleur was in talks with former Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Rich Bissacia to fill the position.
Bissacia took over for former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden after he stepped down from the position in October. Bissacia led the team to a 7-5 record over its final 12 regular season games, earning a berth in the Wildcard Round of the 2022 NFL Playoffs. The Cincinnati Bengals ended the Raiders season, as well as Bissacia’s run as a head coach, holding Las Vegas off by a score of 26-19.
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“Despite being enormously popular among Raiders players … Bisaccia won’t return to Las Vegas,” Silverstein wrote. “He was a candidate for the Raiders’ head coaching position but lost out to New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel and has been given permission to seek a job elsewhere.”
Packers Part Ways With Drayton Following Disastrous Playoff Loss to 49ers
GettySpecial teams coordinator Maurice Drayton, of the Green Bay Packers, looks at his clipboard during the game against the New Orleans Saints during the second half at TIAA Bank Field on September 12, 2021 in Jacksonville, Florida.
As to the release of Drayton, whom the organization dismissed after just one season as its special teams coordinator, LaFleur issued an official statement Saturday.
“We are grateful for all that Mo brought to our team the last several seasons,” LaFleur said. “He is a great man who is loved by our players and coaches and contributed a lot to our success. We wish nothing but the best for Mo, Tonya and the rest of their family moving forward.”
Drayton has coached in the NFL a total of six seasons, including the last four as a member of the Green Bay staff. He served as a Packers special teams assistant for three seasons, between 2018-20, before being named the coordinator last year.
Green Bay cut ties with Drayton following last month’s 13-10 loss in the Divisional Round of the playoffs to the San Francisco 49ers. Over the course of that game, the Niners blocked a Packers field goal attempt at the end of the first half and then blocked a punt in the fourth quarter. The punt block was returned for San Francisco’s only touchdown of the game, tied the score at 10-10 and was arguably the primary factor in the Packers’ ultimate defeat.
Packers Already Down 2 of 3 Coordinators This Offseason
GettyRich Bisaccia, of the Las Vegas Raiders, is a top contender to become special teams coordinator for the Green Bay Packers.
Before Green Bay said goodbye to Drayton, the team had already dealt with the departure of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. The difference is that Hackett left by choice.
The Denver Broncos hired the former Packers’ OC last week as their new head coach, which could be argued was also a move to bolster their chances of landing quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers said following the team’s loss to the Niners that he would decide on his future with the Packers before the NFL free agency period opens on March 16, but noted he did not want to be part of a rebuild.
Keeping the Packers’ 2021-22 roster entirely in tact is not likely for general manager Brian Gutekunst, just as keeping the coaching staff together did not prove realistic. However, the Packers did decide to stay in-house when it came to the OC position. The organization announced on January 31 that former offensive line coach/run game coordinator Adam Stenavich had been promoted to offensive coordinator in Green Bay.
Whether that semblance of offensive continuity on the coaching staff, a likely franchise tag applied to All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams and likely attempts at bringing back a couple of Rodgers’ favorite targets in tight end Robert Tonyan and wideout Allen Lazard via free agency will be enough to keep the QB playing at Lambeau Field remains to be seen.
If Rodgers ultimately decides to force a trade out of Green Bay, the Packers should have a relatively easy time creating a bidding war for his services, which would leave the team far from destitute despite his departure. The Broncos, the Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are all rumored to have interest in landing the 38-year-old Rodgers who is expected to win his second consecutive MVP, and fourth MVP overall, for the 2021-22 regular season.