Entering his 10th season coaching in the NFL, Byron Storer begins his second year with the Packers in 2023 as the team's assistant special teams coach.
Named to his position on Feb. 15, 2022, by Head Coach Matt LaFleur, Storer came to Green Bay after spending the previous four seasons (2018-21) with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders as the team's assistant special teams coach, where he assisted current Packers assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia. Storer also served as an assistant special teams coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two seasons (2010-11) and worked for the San Diego Chargers for two seasons, working as a special teams assistant in 2012 and as assistant linebackers coach in 2013.
In his first season with the Packers in 2022, Storer helped oversee a dramatic improvement in Green Bay's special teams. The Packers ranked No. 22 in Rick Gosselin's special teams rankings, a 10-spot improvement from their No. 32 ranking in 2021. Storer also helped coach CB Keisean Nixon to first-team All-Pro honors from The Associated Press as Nixon became the first kick returner in franchise history to earn a spot on the team since the position was added in 1976. Nixon ranked No. 2 in the NFL with an average of 28.8 yards per kickoff return, the top single-season mark in team annals among players with 30-plus returns. He posted a league-best 1,009 yards on kickoff returns, just the third player in franchise history to lead the NFL in the category (Al Carmichael in 1956 and 1957, Dave Hampton in 1971). Nixon led the NFL in kickoff returns of 50-plus yards (five) and 30-plus yards (11), the most by a Packer in both categories dating back to 2000. Green Bay ranked No. 4 in the league in average starting field position after kickoffs (26.6), the top mark posted by the Packers since 2010 (27.4).
In 2021 with the Raiders, Storer helped tutor P AJ Cole, who led the league with an average of 50.0 yards per punt and ranked No. 5 in the league with a net average of 42.5 yards on his way to earning first-team AP All-Pro recognition and his first Pro Bowl selection. K Daniel Carlson set a single-season franchise record with 150 points (tied for No. 1 in the NFL), including a team-record 40 field goals, tied for the second most in a season in NFL history. Carlson earned second-team AP All-Pro honors and was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Weeks 2, 12, 17 and 18, the first NFL kicker to earn the honor four times in a season.
Carlson set a single-season team record for FG percentage in 2020 by posting a 94.3 mark (33 of 35) on his way to scoring 144 points, tied for No. 1 in the NFL on the season. WR Hunter Renfrow ranked No. 2 in the league with an average of 11.5 yards per punt return, while DE Maxx Crosby earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors in the season finale when he blocked two field goals to preserve the win. Crosby's two blocked kicks were tied for the most in a single game by an NFL player since 2000 as he joined DT Richard Seymour (2011) as the only Raiders to block two kicks in a game (since 2000).
Storer worked with Cole in 2019 as he set team rookie records for punting average (46.0), net punting average (39.4) and punts inside the 20 (33, No. 5 in the NFL). The Raiders were No. 8 in the NFL in opponent kickoff return average (20.9) after ranking No. 22 in the league in the category in 2018. In Storer's first year with the club in 2018, WR Dwayne Harris ranked No. 2 in the league with a 14.1-yard average on punt returns, highlighted by a franchise-record 99-yard TD return vs. Denver in Week 16.
From 2014-17, Storer stepped away from the coaching profession to help start a new branch of his family's transportation business, Storer San Francisco. He advanced to general manager, operating commuter shuttle transportation for some of the largest tech companies in the world.
Storer coached with the Chargers in 2012-13, first serving as a special teams assistant in 2012 before becoming the assistant linebackers coach in 2013. In his lone season assisting current Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry with the linebackers, the Chargers allowed 107.8 rushing yards per game, good for No. 12 in the NFL. In 2012, Storer helped San Diego rank No. 3 in the NFL in average opponent starting field position after kickoffs (20.4) after the Chargers ranked No. 26 in the category in 2011 (22.8). The Chargers also ranked No. 3 in the league in FG percentage (92.6, 25 of 27) after checking in at tied for No. 20 (80.0, 28 of 35) in 2011, and P Mike Scifres ranked No. 3 in the NFL in punting average with a single-season franchise-record 48.3-yard average.
Storer entered the NFL coaching ranks with the Buccaneers in 2010, serving as the team's assistant special teams coach for two seasons. Inheriting a unit that finished last in the league in FG percentage in 2009 (61.5, 16 of 26), Storer helped Tampa Bay rank tied for No. 17 in the category in 2010 (82.1, 23 of 28) and then No. 2 in the league in 2011 (92.9, 26 of 28). The Buccaneers ranked No. 4 in the NFL in FG percentage (87.5) in Storer's two seasons assisting with the special teams.
Prior to coaching with Tampa Bay, Storer spent three seasons with the team as a fullback while also appearing on special teams. He played in 15 games with six starts in 2007-08 before sustaining a career-ending injury in 2008 that would lead to him spending the entire 2009 campaign on injured reserve. Storer originally signed with the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in May 2007 out of the University of California, where he was a three-time All-Pacific-10 second-team selection (2004-06) for his efforts on special teams after starting his career as a walk-on. He took over as the starter at fullback for the Golden Bears as a senior in 2006, appearing in 12 games with six starts and posting eight carries for 16 yards (2.0 avg.) and eight receptions for 61 yards (7.6 avg.).
Storer was born May 1, 1984, in Modesto, Calif. He and his wife, Ashley, have three daughters, Bennie, Lulu and Gal.
