Patriots Promoting ILBs Coach Zak Kuhr To Defensive Coordinator

According to Tom Pelissero, the Patriots are officially promoting ILBs coach Zak Kuhr to defensive coordinator. 

Kuhr served as New England’s interim defensive coordinator while Terrell Williams battled cancer.

Williams is set to take on a “high-ranking role” on their coaching staff, while Kuhr was viewed as a top candidate after calling their defensive plays this season. 

Kuhr, 37, started his coaching career at Edward Waters University as their special teams coordinator in 2009-2010. He joined Ohio State as an intern for the following two years. 

Old Dominion signed him as a graduate assistant in 2013. He then became James Madison’s running backs coach in 2014 and was promoted to co-offensive coordinator the following season. He spent 2016 as Rutgers’ running backs coach. 

Texas State signed him as co-OC and RBs coach in 2017, and was promoted to assistant HC the next year. Texas hired him as an assistant coach in 2019.

He made his way to the NFL in 2020 as the Titans’ defensive quality control coach, and was an ILBs assistant in 2021 to 2023. The Giants hired him as a defensive assistant in 2024 and was signed as the Patriots ILBs coach in 2025.