The Detroit Lions coaching staff has been gutted this offseason. Dan Campbell has been outstanding over the past three seasons. As the team becomes successful, the coach becomes increasingly popular around the league. Such was the case with Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn.
Johnson is the Bears’ offensive coordinator and has accepted the head coaching position. Glenn is the Jets’ defensive coordinator and all signs point to him being the next head coach. Members of the coaching staff may leave the team to join Johnson and Glenn in their new positions. Another coach expected to leave Detroit is Terrell Williams. The 2024 season is his first with the Lions, and he’ll be joined by a familiar face in 2025. Williams will once again raise his head alongside Mike Vrabel and will become New England’s next defensive coordinator.
Lions lost Terrell Williams to Patriots this offseason
Lions defensive line coach Terrell Williams, who worked with Mike Vrabel at Tennessee from 2018 to 2023, is leaving Detroit to become Patriot defensive coordinator @MikeRice And me.
Vrabel thought so highly of Williams that he made him the head coach of… pic.twitter.com/sZdeQoT6NL
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 22, 2025
Terrell Williams has been involved in the NFL since 1999, when he was an intern with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also coached at the college level before being hired by the Raiders in 2012. Williams served as Oakland’s defensive line coach for three seasons. From 2015 to 2017, he served as the defensive line coach for the Miami Dolphins. Williams was hired by the Titans as defensive line coach before the 2018 season.
He held that position for five seasons. In 2023, Williams was promoted to assistant head coach/defensive line coach. Williams left Tennessee and joined the Lions’ coaching staff after the Titans parted ways with Mike Vrabel. The 50-year-old has been linked to Lions head coach Dan Campbell. In 2015, they were part of the Dolphins’ coaching staff together. In 2024, Williams serves as defensive run coordinator/defensive line coach in Detroit. Mike Vrabel accepted the head coaching job in New England and brought on Terrell Williams to be his defensive coordinator. Williams is someone Vrabel rates highly. In his final season at Tennessee, Vrabel named Williams head coach for the preseason. Now, key pieces on Vrabel’s coaching staff have been filled.
