New Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel will be rounding out his staff in the coming days and weeks and while the offensive side of the ball gets all the buzz thanks to the importance of quarterback Drake Maye’s development, the defense should provide just as much intrigue.
It’s fair to wonder which direction the defense will go under Vrabel after a bottom-out year in 2024 in which the Patriots defense finished 30th in overall DVOA, 28th in rushing DVOA, 29th in passing DVOA, 27th on third down, 30th in pressure rate and 30th in EPA.
Vrabel was long considered a coach on the field for Bill Belichick but never actually coached under Belichick. However, his direct coaching mentors include Romeo Crennel and Dean Pees, two established branches of Belichick’s coaching tree who both spent significant years coordinating his defense in the NFL.
Through Crennel and Pees, Vrabel’s schematic roots connect back to the Fairbanks-Bullough 3-4 defense that was brought to the NFL in New England in the late 1970s and served as the basis for Belichick’s defense in New England, though it went through plenty of evolution over his 20-plus years with the Patriots.
There’s also Vrabel’s six years in Tennessee to consider, with Pees serving as his DC for the first two years and current Giants DC Shane Bowen ascending to the role until 2023. Those defenses relied on a fairly even split between man and zone coverage and a four-man pass rush. Each of the Titans defenses from 2021-2023 ranked in the bottom five of the league in blitz rate.
Bowen coordinated the Giants defense last season and upped his man coverage rate from what he ran in Tennessee. Cornerback personnel was an issue for the Titans and those defenses shared similarities to the more zone-heavy calls of the mid-2000s Patriots, before their defense began to major heavily in man coverage around 2012.
This past season the Patriots ran man defense at the second-highest rate in the league, while recent Titan defenses never ran man at a rate higher than 14th in the league. While Vrabel’s roots connect to the basis of the current New England defense, there are some significant differences.
There’s plenty to digest schematically, thus there should be plenty of options on the table, even if it’s a good bet Vrabel will stick with his roots based off Belichick’s foundational defense and seems like a reasonable jumping-off point before adding in all the bells and whistles that make every defense unique.
Here are 10 coordinators to consider if 2024 DeMarcus Covington does not return to run the defense. Covington already interviewed with the Bengals for their open DC position in a sign he could be moving on.
- Shane Bowen: Bowen was with Vrabel since Houston and worked his way up to DC for their final three seasons in Tennessee, serving as the de facto DC in 2020 without the title. He is still under contract with the Giants but has a long history with Vrabel that could bring them back together, if not this offseason perhaps down the line. Bowen’s system calls for one-gap penetrators and a mix of match zone coverage. Those features would likely necessitate some significant personnel changes in New England.
- Jim Schwartz: Schwartz served as the Browns defensive coordinator for the last two seasons after coordinating the Eagles defense for five seasons and Buffalo’s for one single season. Schwartz also spent five years as head coach for the Detroit Lions (2009–2013) and is known for his aggressive defensive scheme that relies on an aggressive front four and an assortment of stunts and twists. Schwartz is an old “slappy” of Belichick’s from Cleveland and is one of the most established and respected coaches around the NFL.
- Lou Anarumo: Defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals since 2019, Anarumo has been credited with building a strong, versatile defense that helped the Bengals get to Super Bowl 56. Anarumo’s defense had a down year in 2024 that cost him his job but he’s still one of the hottest names on the coaching market this offseason. Anarumo runs a versatile scheme and likes to spin the dial with variations of Tampa-2 coverage.
- Patrick Graham: Graham has been the defensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders since 2022 and held the same role with the Giants and Dolphins. Graham just missed crossing paths with Vrabel in New England but won a Super Bowl with the team during his 2009-2015 stint with the team. He coached both linebackers and defensive line under Belichick and likes to spin the dial with his fronts like Belichick did while adapting a new gameplan approach each week.
- Ryan Crow – Crow joined the Dolphins this season after coaching outside linebackers from 2021-23 under Vrabel and Bowen, where he was credited with the development of productive edge rushers Denico Autry and Harold Landry. He began as a defensive assistant with the Titans in 2018 and 2019 and served as an assistant special teams coach in 2020. Though he’s never been a defensive coordinator his experience closely matches that of Bowen’s under Vrabel prior to his ascension to DC.
- Bobby King – King was Vrabel’s inside linebackers coach with the Titans in 2022-23 and made the move to the talented Eagles defense this past season. Prior to his stint in Tennessee, King spent five seasons in Houston under Bill O’Brien, where his path first crossed Vrabel’s.
- Ephraim Banda: Banda has been the safeties coach for the last two seasons with the Cleveland Browns and was previously the defensive coordinator at Utah State and co-defensive coordinator at the University of Miami, specializing in defensive backs. He’s a hot young name in coaching circles and has already interviewed for the Browns’ open DC position.
- Brandon Lynch: Lynch has been the cornerbacks coach for the Cleveland Browns for the past two seasons and has been with Cleveland since 2020. He also focused on the secondary during college stops at Northern Iowa and East Carolina.
- Chris Harris: Harris served as the defensive backs coach for the Tennessee Titans the last two seasons, staying on after Vrabel’s departure while also serving as the team’s defensive passing game coordinator. Harris formerly coached DBs for the Commanders and Chargers, with a reputation for developing excellent secondaries.
- Jim Haslett: Haslett spent 2023 as the head coach for the XFL’s Seattle Sea Dragons following a two-year stint coaching linebackers under Vrabel in Tennessee. He’s a former head coach of the New Orleans Saints (2000–2005) and has extensive NFL experience as a defensive coordinator for four different NFL teams dating back to 1996.