Nate Kaczor (pronounced Kat-sir) enters his fifth season as special teams coordinator with Washington in 2023. Prior to Washington, Kaczor held positions with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In 2022, Kaczor led a unit that produced two Pro Bowl players including punter Tress Way and special teamer Jeremy Reaves. Way became the first Washington punter since Matt Turk in 1998 to be selected to the Pro Bowl. Way now joins Turk (1996-98) as the only other punter in franchise history to be selected to multiple Pro Bowls. Way punted 83 times and recorded 3,885 yards and pinned 37 punts inside the 20 yard line. Reaves was selected as a primary special teamer for the NFC. It was Reaves' first Pro Bowl selection and the selection marks the first time that Washington has sent a special teamer to the Pro Bowl since Lorenzo Alexander in 2012.
In 2021, Kaczor led a special teams unit that finished with the sixth-most total return yards in the NFL which was the most by the organization since 2015. The unit also allowed 643 kickoff return yards, the seventh fewest in the NFL. Washington punted for an average of 47.4 yards, the seventh-most in the league.
In 2020, Kaczor helped standout punter Tress Way record the highest single season net punting average [44.3] in franchise history. Way broke his own record from 2019 [44.1], also under the direction of Kaczor. Way also set a franchise record for most punting yards in a single game, punting 10 times for 511 yards against the Rams in Week 5. Washington led the league in net punting yards in 2020 with 3,325.
In 2019, Kaczor helped guide punter Tress Way to his first Pro Bowl selection. Way was also named to the Associated Press All-Pro Second Team. Way finished the season No. 2 in net average (44.1) and No. 2 in punt yardage (3,919) and No. 7 in punts inside the 20 yard line (30). Under Kaczor's guidance, Washington ranked No. 4 in the league in kickoff return average (25.2) and No. 5 in kickoff return yardage (833) despite fielding one of the league's youngest rosters.
Under Kaczor's guidance, Steven Sims Jr. (NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 12) and Tress Way (NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 13) were also the first players in the history of the franchise to receive the honor of NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in consecutive weeks.
During Kaczor's three seasons with Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers were one of the top punt coverage units in the NFL, allowing only 6.6 yards per return, the fourth-lowest mark in the league during that span.
Punter Bryan Anger was a standout during Kaczor's tenure with the Buccaneers. In his first year with the team, Anger set Buccaneers records for both punts inside the 20 (37) and net punting average (42.7), with both of those ranking in the top five in the NFL in 2016. In the three seasons that Anger spent under Kaczor's tutelage, Anger ranked top 15 in the league in punts inside the 20 and net average while only recording 14 touchbacks.
Kaczor came to Tampa Bay having spent the previous four seasons with the Tennessee Titans, the final three as the teams' special teams coordinator (2013-15) after being hired as the assistant offensive line coach in his first season (2012). In 2015, the Titans tied for the NFL lead in special teams takeaways, while in 2013 Kaczor's unit ranked third in the league in opponent punt return average and eighth in kickoff return average.
Kaczor entered the NFL as an assistant special teams coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars, working there from 2008-11. During those four years, Jacksonville had one of the league's top special teams coverage units, allowing the lowest punt return average in the NFL (6.5) and the eighth-lowest kickoff return average (21.8). In each of Kaczor's final two seasons, Montell Owens earned Pro Bowl recognition as a special teams player.
Prior to joining the NFL, Kaczor spent 17 years coaching in college, the final two working as co-offensive coordinator (2007) and tight ends coach (2006) at Louisiana-Monroe. In his only season as co-offensive coordinator, the team ranked second in the Sun Belt Conference in rushing offense and averaged its most points scored since 1993.
Before his time at Louisiana-Monroe, Kaczor spent two seasons (2004-05) as the co-offensive coordinator/tight ends coach at Idaho and four seasons as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Nebraska-Kearney (2000-03). Kaczor began his coaching career as an offensive assistant at his alma mater, Utah State, working as an offensive assistant for nine seasons (1991-99), helping the team win three conference championships.
A center at Utah State, Kaczor was a team captain, who earned all-conference honors in 1989. A native of Scott City, Kansas, Kaczor is an avid college basketball fan and he and his wife, Angie, have two children, Kaylee and Micah, who had a stint as a pitcher in the Colorado Rockies organization.
