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The New England Patriots followed up their reunion with Josh McDaniels and filled the defensive coordinator position on Wednesday.
New England welcomed Terrell Williams aboard to join head coach Mike Vrabel’s staff and fill the team’s third primary vacancy this offseason. Williams, now the former defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions, was identified as a favorite to land in Foxborough and reunite with Vrabel — Williams spent six seasons on Vrabel’s staff with the Tennessee Titans, initially as the defensive line coach.
When asked how Williams prefers the playstyle of those in his locker room, the 50-year-old dropped a bold one-word description while still in Detroit.
“Violent,” Williams told reporters after being hired by the Lions in May, per MLive’s Benjamin Raven. “That’s it. That’s it. I’m not gonna give you a dissertation about, ‘Hey, we have to do this …’ You gotta play violent, and you gotta play with effort. The violent element of it, that’s a big part of playing that position. You want guys that accept that. You have to accept that’s just what that position is. It’s a violent, high-collision position, and you’ve gotta play with effort, and if you can’t do that, you’re gonna have a hard time playing. I haven’t seen very many high-level starters that aren’t violent players. That just doesn’t work, it doesn’t go hand-in-hand.”
Williams has accumulated over 25 years of coaching experience with various stops across the league for teams including the Miami Dolphins, Las Vegas Raiders, Titans and Lions. Most recently in Detroit, Williams contributed as the team’s run game coordinator as the Lions allowed the fifth-fewest rushing yards (98.4) in the regular season.
Detroit finished atop the NFC North with a dominant 15-2 run, but the promising campaign fell apart in the Lions’ 45-21 defeat at the hands of the Washington Commanders in their divisional round matchup this past Saturday.
New England on the other hand, surrendered the 10th most rushing yards (131.4) amid its 4-13, bottom-of-the-AFC East finish this past season under now-former defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington.
Vrabel has previously spoken highly of Williams, and so far, the Patriots reaped the benefits of Vrabel’s league-wide connections amassed throughout his six coaching seasons that led him back to New England.
“The respect I have for him, the way that he goes about his business, the way he treats people, the way he treats coaches and players, he has a great grasp of it,” Vrabel told The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt in November. “He got along and had relationships with offensive coaches, special teams coaches, defensive coaches. He knows what he believes. He’s a good football coach, a great husband, great father.”
Williams joined McDaniels and special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer as three coaching additions announced by the Patriots Wednesday.
