One day after bringing back Josh McDaniels to run the offense, the New England Patriots have now found a solid addition to run their defense.
According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss and Adam Schefter, Lions defensive line coach Terrell Williams, who previously worked under Mike Vrabel in Tennessee, has been hired to become the team’s defensive coordinator.
Williams spent six seasons with the Titans, joining the team initially as Vrabel’s defensive line coach before getting promoted to assistant head coach in 2023. He joined the Lions as defensive line coach and defensive run game coordinator before last season.
He’s a coach who has certainly been spoken highly of everywhere he’s been, and the results are certainly impressive. Williams got a fair amount of credit for a Tennessee defense that carried the team to the AFC Championship game in 2019, and his unit performed well during his tenure as a position coach.
The Titans were also among the top half of the league in rushing yards per game allowed during his tenure, including finishing 2nd, and first in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
In 2024 in Detroit he also helped coach a defense that, despite being decimated by injuries up front, still managed finish sixth in the NFL in run defense as the Lions ended up with the number one seed in the NFC heading into the postseason.
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell spoke highly of Williams back in December, with Campbell praising him for having his guys in the right position to make plays.
“I’ve known Terrell and long, long time and I just think that he’s an absolutely excellent coach, and (assistant defensive line coach) Cam (Davis) continues to grow as a coach as well and they work well together,” said Campbell via Jared Ramsey of the Detroit Free Press. “I think they give our guys the best opportunity to have success in a game which is what you want.”
Williams inherits a New England defense that finished last season 23rd against the run and 22nd in points per game in 2024 under former first-year defensive coordinator, Demarcus Covington.
So far, Vrabel has opted to surround himself with smart, experienced coaches as he continues rounding out his coaching staff. That’s definitely a good move, especially for a team looking to turn around its fortunes after back-to-back 4-13 seasons.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
