{"id":28111,"date":"2025-01-21T21:19:36","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T21:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=28111"},"modified":"2025-01-21T21:19:36","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T21:19:36","slug":"breaking-the-patriots-are-expected-to-hire-lions-dl-coach-run-game-coordinator-terrell-williams-as-their-new-defensive-coordinator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=28111","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: The Patriots are expected to hire Lions DL Coach\/Run Game Coordinator Terrell Williams as their new Defensive Coordinator"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Mike Vrabel has his sights set on his next Patriots defensive coordinator.<\/p>\n

According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports\/247Sports, the Patriots are targeting Detroit Lions defensive line coach\/run game coordinator Terrell Williams to be their new defensive coordinator. This would reunite Vrabel with a coach who was one of his top lieutenants during his time in Tennessee.<\/p>\n

Williams has been linked to the Patriots since Vrabel\u2019s hiring. On Sunday, ESPN\u2019s Mike Reiss reported \u201cSome around the NFL believe Williams would be Vrabel\u2019s ideal pick as defensive coordinator.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Patriots also interviewed Miami Dolphins outside linebackers coach Ryan Crow for their vacant defensive coordinator position. Crow also spent every year in Tennessee with Vrabel.<\/p>\n

Williams, 50, has been coaching defensive linemen since 1998. He was hired by Vrabel in 2018 to be the Titans defensive line coach. Williams was with the new Patriots head coach for every season in Tennessee. In 2023, Vrabel promoted Williams to be his assistant head coach along with his defensive line coach duties.<\/p>\n

When Vrabel was fired from Tennessee, Williams was hired by Lions coach Dan Campbell to be his defensive run game coordinator and defensive line coach. That move worked out for the Lions. This past season, Detroit was ranked fifth in the NFL in yards per attempt (4.33) and 11th in the league in rushing yards per game (182.0).<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s the best D-Line coach in the league,\u201d Campbell told reporters at last year\u2019s NFL Combine. \u201cIf he\u2019s not, he\u2019s certainly right up there. I think he knows how to develop, he\u2019s got experience in game-planning and he\u2019s going to be beneficial for our guys up front.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams coached in the college ranks at Fort Scott (1998), North Carolina AT&T (1999-2001), Youngstown State (2002-2003), Akron (2004-2005), Purdue (2006-2009), and Texas A&M (2012-2014). He landed in the NFL as the defensive line coach for the Raiders from 2012-2014. In his first year there, Williams coached NFL and Patriots Hall of Famer Richard Seymour. He then coached in Miami (2015-2017) before joining Vrabel in Tennessee.<\/p>\n

When asked about the playing style he wants from his players, Williams used one word.<\/p>\n

\u201cViolent,\u201d Williams told Lions reporters. \u201cThat\u2019s it. That\u2019s it. I\u2019m not gonna give you a dissertation about, \u2018Hey, we have to do this …\u2019 You gotta play violent, and you gotta play with effort. The violent element of it, that\u2019s a big part of playing that position. You want guys that accept that. You have to accept that\u2019s just what that position is. It\u2019s a violent, high-collision position, and you\u2019ve gotta play with effort, and if you can\u2019t do that, you\u2019re gonna have a hard time playing. I haven\u2019t seen very many high-level starters that aren\u2019t violent players. That just doesn\u2019t work, it doesn\u2019t go hand-in-hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve coached some of the most violent on-the-field players and have (coached Jeffery) Simmons, had (Ndamukong) Suh in Miami, had Richard Seymour in Oakland, and even some of the undersized (players), like Cam Wake in Miami, who was 260, 250 pounds, he was one of the most violent football players \u2014 people look at him as a pass rusher but he rushed violently when you watch him, and that\u2019s just what it is. I don\u2019t know any other way to explain it other than we\u2019re looking for violent players. That\u2019s just what it has to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mike Vrabel reportedly has his sights set on a Lions coach to be his Patriots defensive coordinator<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":28112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: The Patriots are expected to hire Lions DL Coach\/Run Game Coordinator Terrell Williams as their new Defensive Coordinator - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=28111\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: The Patriots are expected to hire Lions DL Coach\/Run Game Coordinator Terrell Williams as their new Defensive Coordinator - 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