For a franchise that has struggled with drafting in recent years, Nate Hobbs was one of the better Las Vegas Raiders draft picks of the Mike Mayock/Jon Gruden era. Unfortunately, Hobbs was a free agent this offseason and decided to sign a four-year, $48 million contract with the Green Bay Packers.
That's a hefty contract for the young cornerback and it's easy to see why the Packers would be appealing to him. Former Raiders teammates Josh Jacobs and Keisean Nixon play there but there's one figure in the organization who played the biggest role in Hobbs wanting to go to Green Bay.
Rich Bisaccia was the interim head coach for the Raiders during Hobbs' rookie season in 2021. After signing with the Packers, the cornerback gushed about the coach.
"Honestly, because of the people in the building," Hobbs told The Athletic. "There’s a couple other past Raiders in the building and it seems to be every time (a) Raider comes to the Green Bay Packers, they special. And on top of that, coach Rich Bisaccia. He was also with the Raiders and we got a great, great relationship. If not the most impactful, one of the most impactful coaches I ever had in my football career."
Hobbs went so far as to say that Bisaccia changed his life.
"The way he went about his work and his life and his approach to life as a man," Hobbs said of Bisaccia. "His energy never changed. Every day, in and out, I think you can tell a great man by his consistency and he’s a great man because he’s consistent as you’ll find ‘em, bruh. It’s just so many things (he) taught me in that short span of time, whether he told me or it was just his actions, that changed my life, honestly."
It's hard not to get frustrated by the fact that the Raiders chose Josh McDaniels over Bisaccia in the 2022 offseason because he clearly knew how to resonate with players in a way that's rare for an old school coach.