- Terrell Williams joins the Patriots as the defensive coordinator this year.
- Williams previously worked on Mike Vrabel’s coaching staff in Tennessee.
- This season marks Williams’ first outside of defensive line coach.
Terrell Williams joins Mike Vrabel’s Patriots staff as defensive coordinator.
Williams moves to Foxborough from a season in Detroit. Last year, he worked under Aaron Glenn as a defensive line coach and defensive run game coordinator.
Including Detroit, all of Williams’ NFL experience came as a defensive line coach:
- Oakland Raiders (2012-14)
- Miami Dolphins (2015-17)
- Tennessee Titans (2018-23)
Williams also served as an assistant head coach for his final season in Tennessee.
Before starting in Oakland, Williams earned 14 years of NCAA coaching experience. All seasons came as a defensive line coach.
He began at Fort Scott CC (1998) before three years at North Carolina A&T. Williams went on to work at four other schools:
- Youngstown State (2002-03)
- Akron (2004-05)
- Purdue (2006-09)
- Texas A&M (2010-11)
In 2025, he’ll aim to improve a Patriots defense that has regressed every year recently.
By points per game, New England dropped from second in 2021 to 11th, 15th and 21st, respectively, in the last three seasons.
Previous New England Patriots Defensive Coordinators
| Year | Defensive Coordinator |
|---|---|
| 2024 | DeMarcus Covington |
| 2023 | Bill Belichick |
| 2022 | Bill Belichick |
| 2021 | Bill Belichick |
| 2020 | Bill Belichick |
| 2019 | Bill Belichick |
| 2018 | Bill Belichick |
| 2017 | Matt Patricia |
| 2016 | Matt Patricia |
| 2015 | Matt Patricia |
