New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots bucked the trend of hiring an innovative offensive guru to be their next head coach and instead went with the defensive-minded Mike Vrabel.
But it won’t just be Vrabel’s fingerprints on New England’s defense.
Vrabel revealed from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday that while he oversees everything the Patriots will do on the field, he won’t be calling defensive plays. Instead, that job will belong to new defensive coordinator Terrell Williams.
“That’s the plan,” Vrabel told reporters, per team-provided video. “He’s going to be the defensive coordinator. He’s going to call defenses. He’s an aggressive-minded coach that’s coached really aggressive defensive linemen. That’s his background.”
It’s not a complete surprise that Vrabel would put that task on someone else. During his six seasons as head coach of the Tennessee Titans, Vrabel had a big impact on the defensive unit but did not call plays.
Williams, who spent six seasons with Vrabel on the Titans as a defensive line coach and coached the same positional group with the Detroit Lions in 2024, has never been a primary defensive play-caller. It’s clear Vrabel has full trust in Williams to do the job, though, due to Williams’ vast experience — Williams has coached defensive lines for for four NFL teams since 2012.
But even though Vrabel isn’t calling plays, he’ll have his input on the defense and make sure he and Williams are on the same page.
“I’ve enjoyed the process of what he’s learned when he’s gone to Detroit, what he learned with us in Tennessee, to be able to tie the back end together with the stuff we want to do with the front,” Vrabel said. “And those conversations have been going on in the last couple weeks since everybody’s been together.”
