Patriots announce Mike Vrabel's full coaching staff
FOXBORO -- Less than a month after being named head coach of the New England Patriots, Mike Vrabel has assembled his full coaching staff. While Josh McDaniels, Terrell Williams, and Jeremy Springer were previously announced as his three coordinators, the Patriots announced all of Vrabel's position coaches and support staff on Wednesday.
There is a lot of familiarity for Vrabel, as he brought in 11 coaches he worked with during his time as head coach of the Titans. Williams, VP of football operations and strategy John Streicher, running backs coach Tony Dews, wide receivers coach Todd Downing, assistant offensive line coach Jason Houghtaling, defensive line coach Clint McMillan, safeties coach Scott Booker, cornerbacks coach Justin Hamilton, inside linebackers coach Zac Kuhr, director of sports performance Frank Piraino, assistant special teams coach Tom Quinn each spent time on Vrabel's staff in Tennessee.
There is a ton of experience in the group as well, with four former NFL head coaches on the staff: McDaniels, offensive line coach Doug Marrone, tight ends/pass game coordinator Thomas Brown, and senior defensive assistant Ben McAdoo.
McAdoo is one of five holdovers from last year's staff, though he's gone from the offensive side of the ball to the defensive side. Deron Mayo (Jerod Mayo's brother) is sticking around as the team's strength & conditioning coach, Brian McDonough remains as the assistant strength & conditioning coach, Robert Kugler is the team's assistant offensive line coach, and Vinny DePalma is a defensive assistant.
"The goal in filling out the 2025 Patriots coaching staff was to identify loyal, trustworthy coaches who are diverse in background, ideas, experiences and systems," Vrabel said in a release. "We will be aligned in our vision to teach and develop our players with creativity, consistency and an attention to detail with the major goal of developing relationships that stretch beyond the field and meeting rooms.
"We are going to build a program that players, coaches and staff want to be a part of, protect and be proud of. There are so many great people in this building who help our players and the coaching staff on a daily basis. I am excited to work side by side with them to build this program," added Vrabel.
Patriots offensive coaching staff
Josh McDaniels, Offensive Coordinator
Thomas Brown, Tight Ends/Passing Game Coordinator
Doug Marrone, Offensive Line
Jason Houghtaling, Assistant Offensive Line
Robert Kugler, Assistant Offensive Line
Todd Downing, Wide Receivers
Tony Dews, Running Backs
Ashton Grant, Quarterbacks
Riley Larkin, Offensive Assistant
Chuckie Keeton, Offensive Assistant
Brown started last season as the passing game coordinator of the Chicago Bears and was promoted to offensive coordinator midseason. He was then Chicago's interim head coach for the final five weeks following the firing of Matt Eberflus. Brown was also the OC of the Carolina Panthers in 2023, following three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams.
Marrone brings a lengthy coaching history to New England, with stints as head coach of the Bills (2013-14) and Jaguars (2017-20) in the NFL and Syracuse (2009-12) at the NCAA level. He was the offensive line coach of the Saints from 2022-23, and spent last season as a senior analyst/football strategist at Boston College.
Houghtaling was the assistant offensive line coach in Chicago last year, after he spent three years on the Titans staff.
Downing spent the last two seasons with the New York Jets as the team's quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator. He was with the Titans from 2019-22, and spent his last two seasons in Tennessee as offensive coordinator.
Dews was the running backs coach of the New York Jets last season, after he spent six seasons on the Tennessee staff. He was the running backs coach for the Titans from 2018-22 before becoming the team's tight ends coach in 2023.
Grant -- a Manchester, Connecticut native who attended Assumption College -- spent the last five seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Larkin joins the Patriots after spending last season as the assistant quarterbacks coach at Ohio State. Keeton was on the Seattle Seahawks staff in 2024, after serving as an offensive assistant at Marshall University in 2023.
Patriots defensive coaching staff
Terrell Williams, Defensive Coordinator
Zak Kuhr, Inside Linebackers
Scott Booker, Safeties
Justin Hamilton, Cornerbacks
Clint McMillan, Defensive Line
Mike Smith, Outside Linebackers
Vinny DePalma, Defensive Assistant
Kevin Richardson, Defensive Assistant
Milton Patterson, Defensive Assistant
Ben McAdoo, Senior Defensive Assistant
The biggest takeaway from the defensive staff is McAdoo is now on that side of the ball, after being a senior offensive assistant under Mayo last season.
Kuhr was a defensive assistant for the New York Giants last season, following four seasons with the Titans. In Tennessee, he was a quality control coach for one season and an inside linebackers assistant for three seasons.
Booker was the nickel coach/senior defensive assistant in Buffalo last season, following six seasons with the Titans. In Tennessee, Booker was a defensive assistant from 2018-19 before he was promoted to safeties in 2020, a position he held until 2023.
Hamilton joins the Patriots after spending last season as an assistant defensive backs coach for the Indianapolis Colts. He worked with Vrabel in Tennessee in 2023 as a defensive quality control coach.
McMillan spent the last four seasons in a number of different roles on the Titans staff. Smith was the outside linebackers coach and pass rush specialist for the Vikings from 2022-23, and was the outside linebackers coach of the Packers from 2019-20. This will be the first NFL opportunity for Richardson, who joins the Patriots after serving as an assistant defensive backs coach at Illinois the last two seasons. Patterson is also getting his first shot in the NFL, after spending the last five seasons at Florida A&M as defensive coordinator/linebackers coach.
Patriots special teams coaching staff
Jeremy Springer, Special Teams Coordinator
Tom Quinn, Assistant Special Teams
Both Springer and Quinn were on Mayo's staff last season, and helped the Patriots special teams become one of the better units in the NFL.
Patriots football ops. and performance coaches
John Streicher, Vice President of Football Operations and Strategy
Frank Piraino, Director of Sports Performance
Deron Mayo, Strength and Conditioning
Brian McDonough, Assistant Strength and Conditioning
Streicher -- nicknamed "Stretch" -- was with Vrabel in Tennessee for six seasons from 2018-23 in a number of different roles. He spent last season as the game management coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams under Sean McVay.
Piraino joins New England from the Giants, where he served as the director of strength and conditioning last season. Piraino also has a working history with Vrabel, spending five seasons with the Tennessee Titans as director of strength and conditioning. Prior to that, he was the head strength and conditioning coach for football at Boston College for six seasons.
