Eight days later, the Chargers found the man to replace Steve Crosby as special teams coach.
The team announced on Tuesday that Rich Bisaccia, a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers specials teams coach and associate head coach, will be San Diego’s next special teams coordinator.
Bisaccia has been with the Buccaneers since their 2002 Super Bowl season. This season, his coverage teams were among the best in the NFL, ranking seventh in punt returns (7.3 yards) and eighth in kickoff returns (20.7 yards). Tampa Bay also averaged 24.3 yards per return, eight-best in the league.
In 2009, the Buccaneers led the league with six blocked punts and 26.3 yards per kickoff return. It ranked second in the NFL with 11.6 yards per punt return and fourth with 19.1 yards allowed per kickoff return.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for me to be part of a winning organization and work with Norv Turner," Bisaccia said in a news release. "There’s a real opportunity here to win it all. I’ve worked with Jon Gruden, and now I have the opportunity to work with Norv. These are two of the best coaching minds in football. I’m really looking forward to it.”
This season, the Chargers (9-7) had what was considered the worst special teams in history, allowing four punt blocks, a punt deflection, three kickoff returns for touchdowns and a punt return for a touchdown.
During the season, coach Norv Turner defended Crosby’s coaching and placed responsibility on his players. Less than 24 hours after the season ended, the team announced that Crosby’s contract would not be renewed.
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