The Green Bay Packers better hope Cam Achord is finally the coach who can get their special teams back on track. It’s been a preposterously long time since Green Bay has fielded a reliable unit in that phase of the game, and the problem has manifested at the worst time, including the playoffs.
Achord brings eight years of NFL experience to Green Bay. He joined the New England Patriots as an assistant special teams coach in 2018 and 2019 before being promoted to special teams coordinator in 2020, a role he held through the 2023 season. He then spent the last two years with the New York Giants as their assistant special teams coach.
Green Bay’s special teams have finished 19th, 29th, 15th, and 21st in DVOA over the last four seasons, respectively, reflecting the inconsistency that has plagued the unit for years. The Packers are now hoping Achord’s experience can finally turn one of the team’s most persistent weaknesses into a reliable part of the roster.
“There’s an opportunity here to improve and get better, and there’s already pieces here,” Achord said in May. “You’re not going into a situation where you’re like, ‘Oh man, we’re definitely starting from scratch with everything.’ There was obviously a lot of toughness already about the team.”
The Packers took a more intentional approach to special teams this offseason by adding players who actually fit those roles. Skyy Moore gives them a legitimate option as a kick returner, and it would make sense for Green Bay to stick with him there instead of leaning on Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden. They also added Dani Dennis-Sutton in the draft, who led all of FBS with three blocked punts last season.
It looks like Brian Gutekunst is trying to set up a better foundation for Achord to work with on special teams. His track record in New England was a bit more inconsistent when you look at the unit’s performance by DVOA: The Pats finished first in 2020, dropped to 18th in 2021, then slid to 32nd in 2022 and 28th in 2023.
There were also some low points in that stretch, including three blocked punts allowed in 2021. The following year, New England surrendered two kickoff return touchdowns late in the season against the Buffalo Bills.
“This is not on coach at all,” Matthew Slater said regarding the three blocked punts in 2021 on the Mut at Night radio show. “I think this is on us as players. It’s not like we’re going out there and getting outschemed or being put in a bad position. He prepares us. We know what to expect. And it’s really about us executing better.”
“This is not coaching at all,” he added. “I think Cam and Joe [Houston] do a great job of having us ready, having us prepared. We feel confident going into every contest, but they can’t go out there and play. They can’t coach and play. The players have to do their job and let the coaches do theirs.”
Bringing Green Bay’s special teams back to an average level would already count as a win for Achord, but expectations should be higher than that. Moreover, he will also play an important role in developing rookie kicker Trey Smack. He also inherits punter Daniel Whelan, who is one of the more underrated specialists in the league and gives the unit a steady baseline to work from.
There are some pieces in place for Achord to build something functional, but the real challenge is getting everyone operating in sync. That has been the missing element in Green Bay’s special teams for years now, and fixing that cohesion will be the measure of his impact.
