All RSS feed content is owned by the respective 3rd party website.
Mike Vrabel is putting the finishing touches on his coaching staff.
According to a source, the Patriots are hiring former NFL linebacker Mike Smith to be their new outside linebackers coach. Smith, 43, replaces Drew Wilkins, who was hired by the Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday night.
Smith spent last season working as the Minnesota Vikings outside linebackers coach / pass rush specialist.
Smith is the third coach to join Vrabel’s defensive staff who has experience coaching linebackers. He joins Zak Zuhr, who coached inside linebackers in Tennessee, and Milton Patterson, who coached linebackers at Florida A&M.
A seventh-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens, Smith played in the NFL from 2005-2008, where he backed up Ray Lewis. After retiring, he immediately got into coaching working at Hawaii as a linebackers coach in 2009.
Smith’s break in the NFL coaching world came with the New York Jets. He joined the AFC East rivals as a coaching intern in 2010 and was promoted to outside linebackers coach in 2012. He went to the college ranks after that, becoming the co-defensive coordinator/outside linebackers coach at Texas Tech for three seasons (2013-2015).
Smith made his way back to the NFL working as the Kansas City Chiefs assistant defensive line coach (2016-2017) and outside linebackers coach (2018). He then coached outside linebackers in Green Bay from 2019-2021 before joining the Vikings.
Smith joins a completely new Patriots defensive staff that will have no holdovers from last year’s team.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss was the first to report the news of Smith joining the Patriots.
- BETTING: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.
