MORSE: Vrabel Filling Out Coaching Staff

I am very excited about the list of coaches that have agreed to join Mike Vrabel in New England. The announcement of Josh McDaniel as OC, Terrell Williams as DC and retention of Jeremy Springer has the whole fanbase excited.

Here are the latest coaches joining the Patriots:

Doug Marrone, former Bills and Jaguars Head Coach and longtime Offensive Line guru has been added to Mike Vrabel’s staff. The 60-year old Marrone started coaching in 1992 after a brief career in the NFL. As a Tackle, he was a 1986 6^th round pick by the LA Raiders out of Syracuse. Last season he was a Senior Analyst for Football Strategy at Boston College for Bill O’Brien. With Marrone’s familiarity with BC, the likelihood of the patriots selecting Drew Kendall or Ozzie Trapilo just went up. Marrone is highly respected throughout the NFL. He is a proponent of the stretch run, and knows how to coach it. Marrone is a fan of the stretch run and is adept at teaching it. Question is will he get Offensive Linemen that are capable of executing it. Marrone likes tackles with long arm lengths (33″ or better). Keep that in mind when it comes to freeagency and the draft.

Thomas Brown was interviewed by the Patriots for their Offensive Coordinator position. The former Bear OC was elevated to Head Coach when Matt Eberflus was relieved of his duties last season. Brown played runningback in the NFL as a 2008 6tg Round pick by Atlanta out of Georgia. Brown coached under Sean McVay initially as a RB coach and then elevated to TE and Passing Game coordinator / Assistant Head Coach. He will assume the TE and Passing Game Coordinator position under Vrabel. Another coach from the McVay coaching tree and more of a West Coast offense. The Patriots have never used the title of Pass Game Coordinator. This also shows that Josh McDaniels is expanding his offensive repertoire going to a more west coast system.

Also reported to be joining the staff is Milton Patterson, who comes from Florida A&M. Patterson was a Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowship coach with the Tennessee Titans under Vrabel in 2023. At FAMU, Patterson was the Defensive Coordinator and previously coached Linebackers. He will be the outside Linebackers Coach with the Patriots.

Zak Kuhr was added as an Inside Linebackers coach. He served as an Intern at Ohio State under Vrabel when he coached linebackers there and followed him to the Titans 2020-2023.

Clinton McMillan Defensive Line – He was with the Tennessee Titans and Mike Vrabel and was an assistant to DC Terrell Williams.

Kevin Richardson Assistant Defensive Backs – He was at Illinois under his college coach Bret Bielema. I am hoping this means that Mike Pellegrino is coming back as well.

Jason Houghtailing Assistant O-Line coach – Houghtailing was on Vrabel’s staff at Tennessee in the same capacity. Mike Reiss had listed Houghtailing as a possible O-Line coach. He will get to learn under Doug Marrone.

Riley Larkin Asst QB Coach – Vrabel knows Larking from his time at Ohio State. Larkin was a key contributor to the Ohio State victory and national Championship. Another up and coming young coach. Larkin played QB at John Carroll the same school that produced Josh McDaniel, Nick Casserio, London Fletcher, Brian Polian (son of HOF Bill Polian) and present John Carroll AD. Jerry Schplinski, Nick Caley, Tom Talesco (LV Raiders GM) and Dave Ziegler (former GM LV, now Asst GM in TEN) all played for John Carroll as well.

Thomas Quinn – TBD is a holdover from the Mayo coaching staff. He was the assistant Special Teams Coach last year. The Patriots Special Teams under Jeremy Springer and Quinn, made a great improvement. Quinn was on Vrabel’s staff in Tennessee, so his return was expected. Quinn does have experience in analytics and Vrabel spent a good deal of time this year with Cleveland learning about analytics.

I am very impressed with how Mike Vrabel is going about building his coaching staff. Experience and some up and coming assistants. My big fear is that Thomas Brown is likely to be interviewed for head coaching positions and if successful here will be gone quickly.

Frank Piraino, Vrabel’s Strength and Conditioning coach in Tennessee, has been rumored to have accepted the same position here. He was the S&C coach for the Giants last year.

Another coach rumored to be added will be former Patriots WR coach Chad O’Shea. He is under contract to the Giants and not sure if he or Piriano can get out of those contracts.

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About Mark Morse

Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.

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