The Patriots are set to remove the interim tag from defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr and give him the full-time role for the 2026 season, a league source confirmed Tuesday.
Kuhr, 37, was hired as the inside linebacker coach by the Patriots last offseason. He then took over the defensive play-calling duties after Terrell Williams took a leave of absence this past season because of a battle with prostate cancer.
Kuhr has an extensive background with coach Mike Vrabel, as he spent multiple seasons with the Titans when Vrabel was the head coach in Tennessee. Under his guidance, the Patriots were one of the best defenses in the league in 2025. During the regular season, they were fourth in points allowed (18.8 per game), sixth in rushing yards allowed, and eighth in total yards allowed.
Earlier this month, Williams explained why the transition to Kuhr was so seamless.
“We all believe in the same things,” explained Williams. “The message has been the same throughout, from the time we got there to the time we met today. So whether it’s Zak, or whether it’s [safeties coach] Scott Booker, or whoever it is, we’re all preaching the same message.
“Sometimes, when you coach in this league, you’ve got coaches who are pulling in different directions. Everybody has a motive. The only motive for us was to improve. Not to win, but to improve. We figured that the improvement would come. But Zak has done an unbelievable job.”
At the Super Bowl, Vrabel acknowledged Kuhr’s work.
“Zak has been fantastic,” Vrabel said, “I think that, much like players when given opportunities, coaches sometimes have the same thing. When they get more opportunity, they take advantage of it and then turn that into something else.”
“Zak, man, he’s been doing a great job,” defensive tackle Milton Williams said of Kuhr in January. “Keeping us in tune, keeping us motivated, getting us ready during the week, diving into that tape, [and] letting us know what we expect teams to do and try to run against us.”
Williams, who is now cancer-free, has been elevated to a higher-ranking role on staff. It’s expected that coaching assistant Vinny DePalma, who had an increased role this past season after Williams’ cancer diagnosis, will move into Kuhr’s former job of inside linebackers coach.
In addition, it was confirmed that BJ Edmonds will be joining the Patriots’ coaching staff. He was a coaching intern with the team last summer.
Edmonds, who was just announced as part of the new coaching staff at Southern Miss last month, was part of the coaching staff at Duke in 2024 and 2025, and primarily worked with the cornerbacks as an analyst.
Prior to his time with the Blue Devils, Edmonds spent one season (2021) as a defensive recruiting analyst and two years (2022-23) as a defensive graduate assistant at Utah State. Prior to that, he spent one year as a defensive graduate assistant with Kansas Wesleyan.
Christopher Price can be reached at christopher.price@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at christopherprice.bsky.social.