FRISCO, Texas –If it wasn't widely-known by now, Jon Gruden said it himself on Tuesday afternoon.
In his introductory press conference as the Oakland Raiders' head coach, Gruden confirmed that he has hired Rich Bisaccia to be his special teams coordinator during his second stint with the organization.
Bisaccia has never coached for the Raiders, but this serves as a bit of a homecoming for the veteran coach. His first NFL job was as Gruden's special teams coordinator in Tampa Bay, where he coached for nine years and helped the Buccaneers win Super Bowl XXXVII – against the Raiders, interestingly enough.
Reports surfaced last week that Bisaccia would be let out of his contract in Dallas to join Gruden's staff. Prior to this move, he had been the Cowboys' special teams coordinator for the past five years. This will be his fourth NFL job. After working for the Buccaneers, he did a two-year stint with the San Diego Chargers before Cowboys coach Jason Garrett ultimately hired him in 2013.
This is just one of what will be several changes for the Cowboys' coaching staff. Team owner/general manager Jerry Jones reiterated several times after the end of the regular season that Garrett, as well as offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli, would be staying with the team in their current roles heading into the 2018 season.
Jones did allow that changes would be coming to the staff, and that has played out over the last week or so. Tight ends coach Steve Loney and quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson confirmed their intentions to retire after the end of the regular season, and wide receivers coach Derek Dooley was announced as Missouri's offensive coordinator last Friday.
The announcement of Bisaccia's departure gives the Cowboys at least four openings to fill, for the time being.
