Terrell Williams will come over from the Lions to grow to be Vrabel’s defensive coordinator, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter and Mike Reiss report. This had become a rumored scenario, and it’ll reunite Vrabel and Williams after a 12 months aside. Previous to turning into the Lions’ defensive position coach final 12 months, Williams spent six seasons with the Titans.
Williams, 50, spent six seasons as Tennessee’s D-line coach, presiding over Jeffery Simmons‘ rise into one of many sport’s premier inside defenders. Vrabel’s 2024 firing led Williams to Detroit, the place he helped Aaron Glenn‘s protection stay a top-10 unit regardless of quite a few accidents. Now, Vrabel will give the veteran place coach his first coordinator shot.
Dan Campbell‘s workforce has now lost two assistants — Williams and Ben Johnson — and seems prone to see Glenn leave for the Jets’ head coaching position. This exodus from a 15-2 workforce is actually not sudden, however it should problem the Lions to each defend sure assistants from following a number of the departing coaches whereas additionally discovering new hires who can hold the NFC North champions in excessive gear.
A university assistant for over a decade, Williams has now been within the NFL since 2012. He coached the Raiders and Dolphins’ defensive traces, respectively, from 2012-17. Vrabel introduced him to Nashville with a lateral move in 2018. The best hour for Williams’ Titans troops might have are available in a loss, as Simmons joined Harold Landry and Denico Autry in sacking Joe Burrow 9 instances in a 2021 divisional-round matchup. Whereas the Titans’ DC from that interval (Shane Bowen) was additionally believed to be on Vrabel’s Pats radar, the Giants are retaining their defensive play-caller. And Williams will find yourself changing DeMarcus Covington to run the Pats’ protection.
Covington’s 12 months in cost beneath Jerod Mayo introduced a steep step down after Invoice Belichick had saved the Patriots’ protection because the twenty first century’s most dependable NFL unit. After constantly giving Tom Brady‘s groups sturdy security nets, Belichick’s protection continued to play effectively following the legendary QB’s exit. The Pats had sported 18 top-10 scoring defenses from 2001-21, and regardless of Mac Jones‘ vital regression in 2022 and ’23, Belichick’s protection respectively ranked seventh and eighth in whole protection in the course of the since-fired coach’s closing two seasons on the town. Underneath Covington, New England regressed to twenty second in each scoring and whole protection.
Vrabel’s workforce is carrying essentially the most cap area within the NFL, by a large margin, and can have some holes to fill. And, as anticipated, neither Covington nor one-year OC Alex Van Pelt are in line to be a part of the 2025 operation. Covington had been the Patriots’ D-line coach beneath Belichick from 2017-23, earlier than Mayo elevated him to DC. It ought to be anticipated the younger assistant — who has acquired coordinator curiosity elsewhere, together with a current Bengals interview — ought to land on his ft quickly.
