The Patriots are elevating Terrell Williams to a high-ranking role, opening up a search to fill their defensive coordinator position, a league source confirmed Thursday.
Coach Mike Vrabel said Tuesday Williams had been cleared to return to work, but the team is still working through the details of the staff’s setup moving forward.
Williams, who was hired last January as Vrabel’s defensive coordinator, took a leave of absence following his prostate cancer diagnosis in September. Inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr called plays as interim defensive coordinator.
After doctors declared Williams cancer-free in January, he traveled with the team to San Francisco for Super Bowl LX.
“He was able to come in and be a part of things that we were doing late in the season, based on how he was feeling,” Vrabel said in the week leading up to the game. “It was great to have him around based on his health and what he felt.”
Kuhr, 37, is the leading candidate for the defensive coordinator job.
The promotion would be deserved, given Kuhr’s success as a first-time playcaller this season and, particularly, his impressive showing in the playoffs. He also previously worked with Vrabel for four seasons in Tennessee, first as a quality control coach and then as an inside linebackers assistant.
If the Patriots prefer to go with a more experienced option, then Shane Bowen and Jim Schwartz would be top contenders. Bowen, whom Kuhr calls a mentor, served as Vrabel’s defensive coordinator for three seasons with the Titans.
Schwartz, meanwhile, served as a defensive assistant for Vrabel for two seasons.
For any open coordinator job, the Patriots will have to fulfill the NFL’s Rooney Rule and interview at least external two minority candidates.
Headed to Pittsburgh
Assistant offensive line coach Robert Kugler left the Patriots to become the Steelers tight ends coach on the staff of new head coach Mike McCarthy.
While the Patriots could fill Kugler’s role, assistant Jason Houghtaling remains to support offensive line coach Doug Marrone.
Nicole Yang can be reached at nicole.yang@globe.com. Follow her on X @nicolecyang.