Head coach Mike Vrabel’s full staff was unveiled Wednesday evening.
Weeks removed from retaining special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer, bringing back offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and adding defensive coordinator Terrell Williams, the New England Patriots are officially at capacity.
Mike Vrabel’s 2025 staff was announced by the organization on Wednesday. And while it includes a long line of previously reported hires, there’s also assistants who either flew under the radar or now have more clarified roles.
Here’s a glance through that particular Rolodex of 13 hires and holdovers.
Hires not previously known
Chuckie Keeton, offensive assistant — Hired as the quarterbacks coach at Montana State in 2024 before accepting a position as an offensive assistant with the Seattle Seahawks, Keaton’s previous stops included Marshall University, Texas Tech, Oregon State and his alma mater, Utah State. The 31-year-old former Aggies quarterback finished his collegiate career ranked first all-time in school history in completion percentage, second in passes and completions, plus third in total offense as well as passing yards.
Robert Kugler, assistant offensive line (retained) — Staying on with the Patriots, Kugler spent 2024 as the team’s assistant offensive line coach with Scott Peters in the lead. He worked with the Carolina Panthers’ offensive line for the prior two seasons after entering the NFL ranks with the Houston Texans in 2021. The 32-year-old former Purdue tight end spent time coaching at UTEP and Appalachian State.
Vinny DePalma, defensive assistant (retained) — DePalmer joined the Patriots last offseason as a defensive coaching assistant and will continue in that capacity. As a graduate student at Boston College in 2023, two-time captain at linebacker lead the Eagles with 93 tackles while starting all 13 games.
Deron Mayo, strength and conditioning (retained) — The younger brother of New England’s previous head coach will remain in the fold for 2025. Mayo, who played collegiately at Hofstra and Old Dominion before stints with the Denver Broncos and Calgary Stampeders, arrived in Foxborough as the assistant strength and conditioning coach in 2018. The 36-year-old was promoted to head strength and conditioning coach last campaign.
Brian McDonough, assistant strength and conditioning (retained) — Also staying aboard alongside Mayo is McDonough, who accepted a full-time role with the Patriots as assistant strength and conditioning coach in 2024. He did so after working as a consultant with the organization for over 20 years.
Hires now with clarified roles
Jason Houghtaling, assistant offensive line — Reported in January, Houghtaling will officially join Kugler as an assistant offensive line coach under veteran hire Doug Marrone. He held the same position with the Chicago Bears in 2024. Prior to then, he spent three seasons with the Tennessee Titans after coaching in the college and high school ranks, including at Wagner, where the title of head coach was held from 2015 through 2019.
Clint McMillan, defensive line — Replacing Jerry Montgomery as defensive line coach, McMillan joins the Patriots after logging four years with the Titans. There, his final role came as assistant defensive line coach and pass rush specialist. A former defensive tackle for the Florida Gators, the 2006 national champion served on the staffs at Florida State, Tennessee-Martin, Ohio Dominican, Marshall and Weber State.
Zak Kuhr, inside linebackers — Succeeding three-time Super Bowl champion Dont’a Hightower as inside linebackers coach, Kuhr spent 2024 as a defensive assistant with the New York Giants. Prior to then, he made his initial NFL stop with the Titans, beginning as a quality control coach in 2020 before working as the assistant linebackers coach from 2021 through 2023. The Vrabel connection dates back to Ohio State, where Kuhr interned from 2011 to 2012, working with the Buckeyes’ running backs and special teams units.
Justin Hamilton, cornerbacks — After Mike Pellegrino’s exit, New England’s cornerbacks will now be overseen by Hamilton. He worked as an assistant defensive backs coach for the Indianapolis Colts in 2024 after overlapping with Vrabel in Nashville as a quality control coach. Selected in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL draft, the former Virginia Tech running back, wide receiver safety appeared in 12 games before transitioning to coaching in 2011.
Scott Booker, safeties — Following Brian Belichick’s departure, Booker will officially take over the safeties coach for New England. He spent 2024 as a nickelbacks coach and senior defensive assistant for the Buffalo Bills. And prior to then, the former Kent State defensive back had been on the staff of the Titans from 2018 through 2023 under Vrabel. His time in Nashville began with two seasons as a defensive assistant before spending the next four seasons as safeties coach.
Kevin Richardson, defensive assistant — Richardson joins the Patriots as a defensive assistant on the heels of two campaigns at the University of Illinois as assistant defensive backs coach. He coached defensive backs at Long Island University in 2022, was a defensive graduate assistant at Illinois in 2021 and coached at Northeastern State in 2020.
Milton Patterson, defensive assistant — Patterson also arrives as a defensive assistant following five seasons at Florida A&M as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He was the defensive coordinator at Fayetteville State during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, and previously held positions at Clark-Atlanta University, Alabama State, Mississippi Valley State and Jackson State.
Frank Piraino, director of sports performance — Piraino has been tabbed the director of sports performance after serving as the director of strength and conditioning with the Giants in 2024. Before heading to the NFC East, he spent five seasons with Vrabel’s Titans as director of strength and conditioning and six seasons as head strength and conditioning coach at Boston College. The Ohio native’s collegiate run also included stints at Temple, Marshall, Florida, Notre Dame and Michigan State.
“The goal in filling out the 2025 Patriots coaching staff was to identify loyal, trustworthy coaches who are diverse in background, ideas, experiences and systems,” Vrabel, the 16th head coach in franchise history, said in a statement. “We will be aligned in our vision to teach and develop our players with creativity, consistency and an attention to detail with the major goal of developing relationships that stretch beyond the field and meeting rooms.
“We are going to build a program that players, coaches and staff want to be a part of, protect and be proud of. There are so many great people in this building who help our players and the coaching staff on a daily basis. I am excited to work side by side with them to build this program.
“I want to thank Nancy Meier, Bobby Brown, Bri Avedisian, the video team, equipment team, the HR team and so many others for making the transition seamless for the travel and onboarding of this group.”