49ers news: 3 best special teams coordinators to replace Richard Hightower
By Peter Panacy
49ers Special Teams Candidate No. 2: Rich Bisaccia
Leadership does matter, even for special teams coordinators, and few personified that as much in 2021 as Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia.
In the wake of the Raiders parting ways with former head coach Jon Gruden in the middle of the year, few would have taken shots at Bisaccia if Las Vegas completely fell apart in the aftermath. Instead, and despite all the distractions the Raiders endured, Bisaccia was directly responsible for getting his team back into the playoff dance with four consecutive wins to close out the regular season.
The #49ers should strongly consider doing whatever it takes to land Rich Bisaccia for special teams’ coordinator.
— Akash Anavarathan (@akashanav) February 6, 2022
Bisaccia and Shanahan spent two season together in Tampa Bay. Clearly, Bisaccia was beloved in Vegas this year.
Commendable. Especially to the point where he had more than a few Raiders players vouching for him to take over Las Vegas’ full-time vacancy.
That vacancy went to former Patriots head coach Josh McDaniels, of course, meaning Bisaccia is now on the open market. While his special teams unit ranked 21st in 2021, according to Football Outsiders, there’s no questioning the amount of respect he has across the league.
Even if last year’s DVOA ranking wasn’t in the top 10, what Bisaccia managed in Las Vegas last year on the third phase of the game was still better than Richard Hightower’s output for the Niners.