FOXBOROUGH – For four seasons Zak Kuhr worked under Mike Vrabel and Terrell Williams in Tennessee.
An offensive coach in college, Kuhr made the transition to defense with the Titans. After being hired as a quality control coach in 2020, he was promoted to inside linebackers coach for the next three seasons.
In his first season with the Patriots, Kuhr is already taking on more responsibility.
With the Williams, the Patriots new defensive coordinator, not with the team due to a health scare, Kuhr has taken over in practice and the meeting room as the de facto defensive coordinator. On Monday, he said he’s a conduit for Williams.
“I’m just an extension of T and Vrabes and echoing that message to the unit,” Kuhr. “T and I meet every single day. We talk every single day with Zoom, so we’re always on the same page. It’s really my voice is the one doing it. Yeah, there’s a little extra stuff with how practice goes. For the most part, I’m just an extension of him.”
Before joining Vrabel in Tennessee, Kuhr coached in the college ranks for 11 seasons. That included stops at Edward Waters College (2009-10), Ohio State (2011-12), Old Dominion (2013), James Madison (2014-15), Rutgers (2016), Texas State (2017-18) and Texas (2019).
In college, Kuhr was the co-offensive coordinator at James Madison and then the offensive coordinator at Texas State. He said that experience helped him step up this offseason with the Patriots.
“I’ve been a coordinator before,” Kuhr said. “I know it was at the college level, but I’ve been in front of a unit before and ran unit meetings. I did that for a couple of years, so I wouldn’t say it’s anything too new.”
After Vrabel’s exit from Tennessee, Kuhr joined the New York Giants last season as a defensive assistant coach. He came to New England where he joined several assistant coaches whom he worked with in Tennessee.
This past month, when speaking about his medical situation, Williams said he has the “utmost respect” for Kuhr and sees a bright future for the coach.
“Zak’s unbelievable. He’s an unbelievably smart guy,” Williams. “He’s going to be a superstar in this league. Smart, and more than anything he has the ability to connect with players.”