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Without the announcement of an interview request, the Indianapolis Colts completed a head coach interview with Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia on January 20, per the Colts’ Twitter account.
The Colts have now interviewed or requested to speak to 13 head coaching candidates, which leads all other teams, per NFL on CBS insider Jonathan Jones. The Carolina Panthers are just behind with 12 candidates.
Bisaccia has 21 years of experience in the NFL, primarily coaching special teams. He was also the Las Vegas Raiders’ interim head coach for 13 games in 2021.
After Bisaccia signed with the Packers last offseason, former Raiders cornerback Keisean Nixon joined him in Green Bay. With Bisaccia leading the special teams unit in 2022, Nixon became an AP First-Team All-Pro kick returner.
Using “22 kicking-game categories,” NFL analyst Rick Gosselin analyzes each team’s special teams unit at the end of each regular season. In his 2022 report, Gosselin gave the Packers 408 points — good enough for No. 22. For perspective, Green Bay finished dead last (No. 32) in Gosselin’s 2021 rankings.
Bisaccia marks the second special teams coordinator the Colts have spoken to along with Indianapolis’ own Bubba Ventrone, who interviewed on January 11.
Bisaccia’s Leadership in Las Vegas
After Raiders ex-head coach Jon Gruden resigned in 2021, Bisaccia was given the interim role despite not having any previous head coaching experience.
Under his guidance, Las Vegas went 7-5 to end the regular season and even made a playoff appearance — losing to the eventual AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card round.
After that loss, Bisaccia hand-wrote letters to each of his players to thank them for their season-long efforts under difficult circumstances.
The respect that Bisaccia had for his players was mutual in Las Vegas. Then-Raiders quarterback Derek Carr expressed his appreciation for Bisaccia’s efforts and even endorsed him for the full-time head coaching gig.
“I think we can all think that he’s the right guy,” Carr said after the playoff loss. “He’s proven that people listen to him. Not just people, but our team listens to him. I love him so much, I’m thankful for him.”
Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby also showed his admiration for Bisaccia and touted his leadership.
“He (Bisaccia) came in and got us to 10 wins,” Crosby added following the Raiders’ January 2022 Wild Card defeat. “We came on the road, on a short week and gave Cincinnati everything they could handle. It just shows, you know, Rich is a great leader. One of the best people I know. One of the most honest dudes I know. I’ll go to bat for him any day of the week.”
Colts Complete Another Interview
Indianapolis requested to interview Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan on January 19 and had a short turnaround, as the interview was completed shortly after Bisaccia’s interview. The Bengals will face the Bills in the AFC Divisional Round in just two days.
Callahan has helped Cincinnati become a prolific offense, as the Bengals were AFC Champions last season and are vying to return to the Super Bowl in 2022.
The Bengals put up 27.1 and 26.1 points per game in 2021 and 2022, respectively — each ranking No. 7 in the NFL.
Jay Morrison, who covers the Bengals for The Athletic, reported that Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor said Callahan is worthy of receiving the head coaching interview.
“Deserving,” Taylor told Morrison. “He (Callahan) does an unbelievable job leading our offense and just with the coaches and the players, he’s been invaluable for us. So he’s very deserving of the opportunity.”
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