The New England Patriots saw their second coaching departure of the offseason on Tuesday, with the New York Giants luring away defensive line coach Bret Bielema, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Bielema was in his first year as defensive line coach in 2019 after serving as an assistant in 2018. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Arkansas from 2013 to 2017 and Wisconsin from 2006 to 2012. Bielema will serve in an undisclosed role for the Giants under head coach Joe Judge, who joined New York this offseason after eight years with the Patriots. Most recently, Judge was the team’s special teams coordinator and receivers coach.
New England will have to replace their defensive line coach for the second consecutive season after Brendan Daly joined the Kansas City Chiefs after the 2018 season, which led to Bielema’s promotion.
There isn’t an obvious candidate to replace Bielema on the Patriots. They have pass-rush specialist Joe Kim, who works largely on hand technique with New England’s players. He is likely to help with continuity, even if he is unlikely to serve as the next positional coach. The team can follow their custom by picking an internal assistant coach, who has yet to earn a position group. Or they can look for a suitable out-of-house candidate.
