Mike Vrabel is adding a familiar co-worker to his New England Patriots coaching staff.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the Patriots are set to hire Shane Bowen as a defensive analyst. Over the past five years, Bowen served as an NFL defensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants.
During Bowen’s three seasons as Titans defensive coordinator, he coached under Vrabel, who led the team to a 25-26 record during those three campaigns.
Bowen actually coached under Vrabel for the Patriots head coach’s entire Titans tenure. From 2018-20, Bowen was the Tennessee outside linebackers coach.
Prior to that, the two coaches also worked together with the Houston Texans for two seasons.
Last season, Bowen coordinated a Giants defense which finished near the bottom of the league in most categories. New York, though, has been in a rebuild mode for a long time and hasn’t played elite defense in several years.
Bowen’s defenses in Tennessee finished in the top half of points allowed during all three of his campaigns. In 2021, the Titans were also 12th in yards yielded.
Mike Vrabel Hiring Former Titans DC Shane Bowen: Report
GettyNFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Friday afternoon the New England Patriots are hiring former DC Shane Bowen to Mike Vrabel’s coaching staff.
The coaching relationship between Vrabel and Bowen even predates their Texans tenure together. The two coaches were on the same Ohio State staff during the 2012 campaign.
Under Urban Meyer, who was in his first season with Buckeyes at the time, Vrabel served as defensive line coach from 2012-13. Bowen was a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2012.
Bowen received his first opportunity to be a position coach at Kennesaw State in Georgia at the FCS level. He served in that role for three campaigns before joining the Texans as a defensive assistant.
Vrabel coached linebackers for the Texans from 2014-16. In 2017, Vrabel became the Houston defensive coordinator while Bowen continued in his defensive assistant role.
The following year, Vrabel hired Bowen as outside linebackers coach on his first Titans staff.
What Bowen Will Bring to Patriots
GettyMike Vrabel and Shane Bowen have coached nine seasons together at the NFL and college levels.
Bowen didn’t experience a ton of success over his first five seasons as a defensive coordinator. The fact he remained unemployed into April is a sign that he wasn’t in demand for new jobs after the Giants cleaned house and hired John Harbaugh this offseason.
But Bowen is only 39 years old. Bringing in a coach with a decade worth of NFL experience, half of which as a defensive coordinator, is always a good thing.
The fact he already has a rapport with Vrabel is an extra bonus.
Bowen played safety during high school football in Ohio. He attended Georgia Tech, where he played under former NFL head coach Chan Gailey.
At Georgia Tech, Bowen converted to linebacker.
After his playing career, the converted linebacker began his coaching career as a student assistant with the Yellow Jackets. He was a graduate assistant for two years with Georgia Tech as well before getting the graduate assistant role at Ohio State.
Following his Buckeyes stint, Bowen returned to the Atlanta area to coach at Kennesaw State.
Under Bowen, the Giants finished 26th in scoring defense and 28th in yards allowed last season. They were also 31st in run defense, 16th in pass defense and 25th in takeaways.
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