CLEMSON — Clemson University’s Board of Trustees’ Compensation Committee officially approved the hiring of Rich Bisaccia as football’s special teams coordinator.

The Compensation Committee approved Bisaccia as Dabo Swinney’s newest coach in a called meeting on Wednesday morning. Bisaccia’s deal is a one-year contract worth $900,000 with a retention bonus worth $100,000 if he is still employed at Clemson on July 1, 2026, according to the terms of the contract which The Clemson Insider was able to obtain.

“His experience and expertise in all things football — not just special teams — are a huge value to us,” Swinney said in a release from the university. “He’s a leader of men, and I think his perspective and his lens joining our organization will be incredibly valuable even beyond the impact that he’ll make on our special teams.”

Bisaccia’s deal also includes bonus incentives up to $660,000 if Clemson were to win a national championship and ranks in the top 20 statistically in the nine major special teams categories under the NCAA’s official stats.

The incentives are separate line items based on the terms he agreed upon in his contract. In other words, he will receive bonuses up to $540,000 should Clemson win a national championship, and also up to $120,000 additional should the Tigers’ rank in the top 20 in all nine major statistical categories according to the NCAA — Blocked Kicks, Blocked Kicks Allowed, Blocked Punts, Blocked Punts Allowed, Net Punting, Punt Return Defense, Punt Returns, Kickoff Return Defense and Kickoff Returns.

Blocked Kicks, Blocked Kicks Allowed, Blocked Punts, Blocked Punts Allowed, Net Punting and Punt Return Defense are all worth $10,000 each in bonuses if Clemson is ranked in the top 20, while Punt Returns, Kickoff Return Defense and Kickoff Returns are worth $20,000 each.

Bisaccia returns to Clemson, where he spent five seasons coaching the Tigers’ running backs and special teams from 1994-’98. In the time since, Bisaccia became one of the most respected special teams coaches in the NFL, spending 24 years as an NFL special teams coordinator from 2002-’25.

“I am really excited to have the opportunity to work with the young men in the Clemson Football program and be part of a tremendous staff,” Bisaccia said in the release. “After I made the decision to move in a new direction, Coach Swinney approached me with the opportunity to come back to a place that holds special meaning for me and my family. I’m thrilled to be able to return to the Clemson community and serve this program in any way I can.”

In total, Bisaccia is a 43-year coaching veteran across the collegiate and professional levels. He most recently spent four seasons with the Green Bay Packers from 2022-’25, adding assistant head coach duties for the final three years of his tenure.

Bisaccia began his coaching career as a defensive backs and special teams coach at Wayne State in 1983. He spent an additional four seasons there as a quarterbacks and wide receivers coach before coaching at South Carolina from 1988-93 in advance of his first stint at Clemson. He spent three seasons at Ole Miss from 1999-2001 before embarking upon a 24-year arc in the NFL that included 11 top-10 rankings in kickoff return average.

In his first NFL season in 2002, Bisaccia helped guide the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to their first Super Bowl title as kicker Martin Gramatica tied for the NFL lead with 32 field goals and Tampa Bay ranked fourth in the league in kickoff return average (24.1). He would spend nine seasons in total with Tampa Bay before overseeing special teams for the San Diego Chargers from 2011-’12.

Bisaccia spent five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys from 2013-’17, leading a unit that ranked fifth in the NFL over that span in kickoff return average (24.2). He then spent four seasons with the Raiders across their residencies in Oakland and Las Vegas from 2018-’21. In 2021, he was named as the Raiders’ interim head coach, and he guided the team to a 7-5 finish for a 10-7 overall mark to qualify for the franchise’s first postseason appearance since 2016.

A native of Yonkers, N.Y., Bisaccia was a four-year starter at defensive back for Yankton (S.D.) College from 1979-’82, including serving as a team captain in 1982 and earning all-conference honors in each of his final two seasons.

–Clemson Athletic Communications contributed to this story