Patriots’ Mike Vrabel Took Specific Approach To Building Staff

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had a specific vision when building his new coaching staff.

New England intentionally struck a “balance” between adding experienced coaches and young assistants who are on the rise, according to Vrabel.

Vrabel spoke more about his vision with the team’s website at the Senior Bowl, specifically as it relates to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Terrell Williams.

“There’s an experience level that’s critical. There’s been some growth from the offense over the years, and (McDaniels) has blended that with some of the new trends, but the foundation will remain the same,” Vrabel told Evan Lazar. “I’m excited about adding some of those new trends.”

“I like to invest in people, and (Williams) is one,” Vrabel also said. “He’s a great person, a great coach. He’s got a large, wide reach on every player that he’s ever been around, and he’s made an impact. He was very instrumental in our success in Tennessee. The opportunity to be able to get (Williams) here, I felt like that was important.”

The Patriots added a combined 51 years of coaching experience between McDaniels and Williams while skewing younger with the majority of the reported position coach hires.

Ashton Grant and Riley Larkin will work directly under McDaniels, neither having coached in the NFL before landing jobs in New England. Thomas Brown and Doug Marrone, however, each have long coaching resumes that include stints as head coaches, and will be tasked with helping modernize the offense.

Kevin Richardson II, Clinton McMillan, Zak Kuhr and Milton Patterson are all younger defensive coaches who are expected to join the defensive staff under Williams. The Patriots could still add veteran voices on that side of the ball, as well.

Vrabel did a pretty decent job of striking that balance, but we’ll have to wait and see if it results in improvements on the field.