{"id":748816,"date":"2026-02-13T08:36:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/748816\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T08:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:36:16","slug":"patriots-open-defensive-coordinator-role-move-terrell-williams-on-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/748816\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots open defensive coordinator role, move Terrell Williams on staff"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Patriots opened up their defensive coordinator role, per a source, moving Terrell Williams to a high-ranking position on staff.<\/p>\n

Williams, now cancer-free, entered the 2025 season as the Patriots\u2019 defensive coordinator until taking a leave of absence after being diagnosed with prostate cancer prior to Week 2.<\/p>\n

Inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr took over as interim defensive coordinator and play-caller<\/a> and is considered a top candidate to take over the full-time role.<\/p>\n

The 37-year-old Kuhr, who spent four seasons on Mike Vrabel\u2019s Titans staff, led the Patriots\u2019 defense to a top-10 finish in yards and points allowed. They finished the regular season 11th in expected points added and were even stronger in the postseason until losing to the Seahawks 29-13 in Super Bowl LX.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing back to my time in Tennessee, he\u2019s always going to be super prepared, super detailed,\u201d Patriots linebacker Jack Gibbens said<\/a> when Kuhr took over for Williams in September. \u201cHe cares about the guys a lot. Just wants to see us succeed. So I think that\u2019s what he leads with, is he\u2019s trying to help us be the best we can be. And so definitely appreciate that, and love playing for a guy like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another former defensive coordinator of Vrabel, Shane Bowen, is also currently available after being fired by the Giants in November.<\/p>\n

Longtime defensive coordinator and former Lions head coach Jim Schwartz could also be in the running for the job. Schwartz spent the last three seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Browns, who boasted a top-10 defense in yards allowed two times under Schwartz\u2019s watch. Schwartz resigned from his post with the Browns last week after he was passed over for the vacant head-coaching job, which went to Todd Monken.<\/p>\n

Schwartz, who got his start in the NFL with the Browns in 1993 when Bill Belichick was at the helm, has a history with Vrabel. He spent two seasons as a senior defensive assistant with the Titans under Vrabel.<\/p>\n

Williams was able to assist the Patriots between cancer treatments and found a way to make an impact with his presence<\/a>. He was declared cancer-free before the Super Bowl and traveled with the team to the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a perfectionist, so I try to be perfect in a lot of different things. But with him being around, I just think to myself that I\u2019m extremely blessed,\u201d Patriots defensive captain Harold Landry told the Herald in October. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s just the attitude, everything that he is as a person, it just makes me go about my day in a much more positive light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams previously served as a defensive line coach with the Lions and Titans, where he served on Vrabel\u2019s staff for six seasons.<\/p>\n

Kuhr had never served as a position coach or defensive coordinator prior to the 2025 season, only switching over from offensive coaching in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Patriots opened up their defensive coordinator role, per a source, moving Terrell Williams to a high-ranking position…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[4955,833,839,7,838,1167,249,15,835,61050,208,107497,19972,834,61051,61052,724,837,238,261,505,16165],"class_list":{"0":"post-748816","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-drake-maye","10":"tag-eliot-wolf","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-mike-vrabel","13":"tag-new-england","14":"tag-new-england-patriots","15":"tag-nfl-draft","16":"tag-nfl-news","17":"tag-nfl-patriots","18":"tag-patriots","19":"tag-patriots-2026","20":"tag-patriots-game","21":"tag-patriots-news","22":"tag-patriots-schedule","23":"tag-patriots-stats","24":"tag-pats","25":"tag-robert-kraft","26":"tag-seahawks","27":"tag-seattle-seahawks","28":"tag-super-bowl","29":"tag-super-bowl-lx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116062413422818567","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=748816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=748816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=748816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=748816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}