New England Patriots
Bowen previously worked as defensive coordinator for both the Giants and Titans.
Shane Bowen coaching as Giants defensive coordinator in Oct. 2025. David Zalubowski/AP Photo
April 10, 2026 | 2:30 PM
1 minute to read
The Patriots appear to be adding another name to the coaching staff.
According to multiple sources, the Patriots are hiring former Giants and Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen as an analyst.
Bowen, 39, worked under New England head coach Mike Vrabel as Titans outside linebackers coach from 2018-2020, and defensive coordinator from 2021-2023.
He also overlapped with Vrabel on the Texans staff from 2016-2017 (when Vrabel was on the defensive staff and Bowen was a defensive assistant). The two first worked together on the Ohio State staff in 2012 when Vrabel coached the defensive line and Bowen worked as a graduate assistant.
Over the last two seasons, Bowen was the Giants’ defensive coordinator. He was fired from the role in November by then-interim head coach Mike Kafka after an overtime loss to the Lions (the latest in a series of games in which New York’s defense squandered leads).
As Patriots.com reporter Evan Lazar pointed out, New England defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr views Bowen as a “mentor figure,” as the former worked under the latter in both New York and Tennessee.
It continues a reshaping of New England’s defensive staff during the offseason. Kuhr is now the defensive coordinator, having served in a de facto role during the 2025 season as then-DC Terrell Williams took time away from the team amid a fight with prostate cancer.
Williams was eventually declared cancer-free, and will fill a high-ranking role within the defensive staff. He’s currently listed on the Patriots’ website as “assistant head coach.”
Hayden Bird is a sports staff writer for Boston.com, where he has worked since 2016. He covers all things sports in New England.
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