The New England Patriots’ coaching staff for the 2026 season has been finalized, and it includes some changes compared to last year.
The most prominent among those are the previously confirmed promotion of Zak Kuhr to defensive coordinator as well as former DC Terrell Williams taking on a new role. That role now comes with a title: Williams will serve as assistant head coach under Mike Vrabel.
“Terrell will be able to help me on a lot of things, help the football team, help the defense, continue to have
a big role in that,” Vrabel said at the Scouting Combine in February. “And then just seeing where things progressed with Zak and the comfort level that we had there, so that’s where we ended up. I think we have a great staff.”
In full, New England’s staff for Vrabel’s second season will look as follows:
Besides promoting Kuhr and moving Williams to a different role, the Patriots are also moving Vinny DePalma from defensive assistant to inside linebackers coach. DePalma already worked a similar role during the 2025 season, after Kuhr took over play-caller duties in light of Terrell Williams’ early-September prostate cancer diagnosis.
In addition to the internal moves, the Patriots are welcoming three new assistants into the fold. Jonathan Decoster will work as offensive line assistant, B.J. Edmonds as defensive assistant, and Charles London as offensive analyst.
Decoster, who spent the last two years as assistant O-line coach at Florida, brings more than 10 years of coaching experience to New England. He began his career at the college level and later also worked as an offensive quality control coach and offensive assistant with the Browns.
Edmonds, a former cornerback at Arkansas State, served in a defensive assistant role at Kansas Wesleyan, Utah State and Duke before being hired as running backs coach at Southern Miss in January. Just a month later, however, made move to New England, where he worked as an intern last training camp.
London has spent time with multiple organizations over the course of his two-plus decades in coaching, including the Titans under Mike Vrabel: he spent the 2023 season as Tennessee’s quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator. In between that job and his new one, he coached QBs for the Seahawks and Jets.
The three new additions come in light of three departures. Assistant offensive line coach Robert Kugler, defensive assistant Milton Patterson and senior defensive assistant Ben McAdoo will not be back with the team next season.
