Mike Vrabel continues to revamp his staff.
According to a source, college defensive back coach Kevin Richardson II is joining the Patriots. He’s the latest hire among a series of new coaches to come to New England.
Richardson spent the last season at the University of Illinois on Bret Bielema’s staff as an assistant defensive backs coach.
A collegiate cornerback, Richardson played for Bielema at Arkansas on teams that included Patriots veterans Hunter Henry and Deatrich Wise. Richardson was a nickel back for the Razorbacks from 2013-2018 and played 48 collegiate games, finishing with 125 tackles, four interceptions and earning captain honors.
Richardson started his coaching career in 2019 as a graduate assistant at MidAmerica Nazarene and then as a defensive backs coach at Northeastern State. In 2021, he joined Bielema’s staff as a defensive graduate assistant before leaving for a year in 2022 where he coached defensive backs at Long Island University.
He went back to Illinois in 2023 as a defensive analyst and was promoted to assistant defensive backs coach last year.
Now, he’ll enter the NFL coaching ranks for the first time in his career. Richardson joins a defensive staff led by new defensive coordinator Terrell Williams. Other newcomers on defense include Zak Zuhr and Clinton McMillan.
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