It isn’t Aaron Rodgers, Allen Lazard or Matt LaFleur. 

The Packers player or coach that has the most pressure on him this season is special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia. It goes without saying that Green Bay’s special teams have been awful the last several years. That unit has been ranked 20th or worse in six of the last eight seasons. 

You could argue that the reason the Packers lost to the 49ers in the NFC Divisional Playoff last year at a frigid Lambeau Field was because of a blocked field goal and a blocked punt. “I don’t know exactly what happened,” said LaFleur after the game. “We had two blocks in this game and obviously, it played a big part in us coming up short.”

Unfortunately, this isn’t new for the Packers. A certain special teams foible prevented Green Bay from reaching a Super Bowl after falling in the 2014 NFC Championship Game. 

That’s a tidal wave of bad luck that Bisaccia is trying to reverse. That won’t be easy considering kicker Mason Crosby had his right knee scoped earlier this summer and long snapper Steven Wirtel was released on Wednesday.

This might be one of the toughest challenges for Bisaccia, but if he succeeds and turns the Packers’ special teams into something resembling respectability, a head coaching job is sure to follow. If he cannot, then Bisaccia just becomes another special teams coordinator victim like Ron Zook, Shawn Mennenga and Maurice Drayton. 

“Rich definitely has a clear-cut philosophy,” said LaFleur after the opening of training camp. “He’s super intense, which I love. And he brings an edge to us. There’s no doubt. I’ve learned more about special teams  than I ever have in my life.”

So the head coach obviously trusts Bisaccia. And I think it’s awesome that Bisaccia brings that burning intensity because that’s the main ingredient you need to play special teams. 

This special teams unit doesn’t have to be top 10, it just cannot be 20th or worse once again and it cannot be the reason the Packers fail in the playoffs. Special teams haven’t been special in Green Bay for a long time, but the only way that changes is by making the little things matter. Pay attention to the details. How many steps does punter Pat O’Connell need before he sends a ball booming into the sky and does he tend to drift to one side or the other? Does Crosby like where O’Connell holds his kicks? Is there a crack in punt or kick coverage?

This is the NFL. Small changes make a big impact — especially when it comes to costing teams playoff games. 

So for all of those reasons, Bisaccia is facing the most pressure on the Packers. He was hired because he is supposed to be a special teams whisperer — heck, he’s even teaching LaFleur a thing or two. 

Bisaccia’s pedigree as a coach was proven last year. In an interim role as head coach of the Raiders, he led them to a 7-5 record with a playoff appearance and even tallied three votes for Coach of the Year. And Raiders former general manager Mike Mayock wanted to retain Bisaccia as head coach before he was fired himself. 

So this is a huge roll of the dice for Bisaccia. He has the chops to be a head coach right now, but first, he needs to succeed as a special teams coordinator at a place that has been in a special teams drought since 2007. 

Hopefully the Wayne State College product can lead this unit to water.