Patriots Continue Staff Overhaul, Secure New Defensive Coordinator
The New England Patriots are hiring Detroit Lions defensive line coach Terrell Williams to be their new defensive coordinator. Williams has been the leading candidate to take that position in Mike Vrabel’s new coaching staff, but now it’s confirmed. ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter broke the news just before 8:00 a.m. EST on Wednesday. With this hire, the Patriots now have all their coordinator positions filled out for the 2025 season.
The foregone conclusion in the head coaching cycle this offseason was Vrabel returning to New England. The Patriots hired Vrabel on January 12th to become the 16th head coach in the franchise’s history. Vrabel played for the Patriots in Bill Belichick’s second season, winning three Super Bowls in his eight seasons there, and will be the second coach to replace Belichick in as many years since Jerod Mayo failed in a 4-13 season. The only hypotheticals that fans were wondering about were the coaching staff that Vrabel will hire, which has been all filled out now. Vrabel made Josh McDaniels his offensive coordinator, retained special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer, and hired Williams.
McDaniels has a long history in New England. He was hired by Belichick back in 2001 as a personnel assistant and rose in the ranks to become the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator many seasons later. From 2009-10, he served as the Denver Broncos head coach before being fired and came back to New England for his second stint as OC in 2012. He would remain as the offensive playcaller until 2022, when he again got a head coaching gig in the AFC West, this time for the Las Vegas Raiders. Unfortunately for McDaniels, that stint didn’t go well, either. The Canton, Ohio native lasted just a season and a half before being fired on Halloween in 2023. After being out of football for a year, he’s back again in New England and hoping to take Drake Maye to the next level in his sophomore campaign.
Williams and Vrabel have a long coaching history together. Vrabel brought in Williams in his first year as the Titans head coach to be the defensive line coach, a position that he’s held in the NFL and college ranks since 1998. Vrabel loved Williams’ leadership so much that he promoted him to assistant head coach in 2023, both of their last seasons in Tennessee. This season, Dan Campbell brought the veteran coach to his staff to coach to be the defensive line coach and defensive run game coordinator. Though Williams has been coaching for a long time, he just turned 50 in June and earned his first gig as defensive coordinator.
