FOXBOROUGH- It is hard to coordinate an offense or a defense at any level of football. Especially when you are in your first year on the job. That is the challenge Patriots interim defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr has faced this season. Based on the results however, you would have thought Kuhr had been coordinating for years.
Kuhr stepped into the role prior to the season opener against the Raiders after defensive coordinator Terrell Williams had to step away from his duties to focus on his health. Williams was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The news of his diagnosis shocked the team. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and the rest of his staff did not have much time to adjust after losing Coach T. Vrabel needed an interim defensive play caller and he chose Kuhr.
Kuhr stepped into the role under difficult circumstances and has done a masterful job molding the Patriots defense into one of the top units in the NFL.
Kuhr began his coaching career as an intern under Urban Meyer at Ohio State for two seasons (2011-12). It was at Ohio State where Kuhr first worked with Vrabel, who was the Buckeyes linebackers coach at the time. From then on, Kuhr coached at James Madison, Rutgers, Texas State and Texas before being hired as inside linebackers coach by Vrabel with the Tennessee Titans. Kuhr spent last season with the Giants.
While he has experience on both sides of the ball as a position coach, nothing could have prepared Kuhr to step into the role of defensive play caller and yet he has made the transition look seamless.
The Patriots finished third in the NFL in points allowed at 17.9 points per game and were top ten in all major statistical categories. In a season where the Patriots defense has been good on a weekly basis, Kuhr called his best game last week against the Chargers in the Wild Card playoff game. Linebacker Robert Spillane says Kuhr has been on point all season long with his play calls.
“Zak [Kuhr] has been great all year. He keeps the dial spinning. He keeps offenses guessing. All year, he has been doing that. You know, just after the game, talking to a few of the guys on the other team, they had no clue what we were doing. And they came up and said that, ‘We had no clue what you guys were in all game.’ So for him just to be able to build those packages throughout the week, our back-end players to know how to disguise the different defenses, really keeps quarterbacks guessing.”
For his part, Kuhr says there’s a balance when it comes to calling plays and pressuring and disguising coverages. Something he has learned on the job this season.
“Always balanced with everything we do, even the disguise part. In this league, the game is so fast and these guys process quickly on both sides of the ball. You have a lot of stuff on tape right now, especially this late in the year. And to maybe just gain that one step back of the offense knowing the play and the defense having to play the play.
“Maybe with our disguise and they’re thinking one thing — because they’re going to try to anticipate stuff — how can we gain that step back? And that’s maybe giving them something they weren’t thinking at the snap and now they have to process something new.”
Kuhr’s perspective illustrates just how far he has come as a defensive coach and how he has settled into the coordinator role. The jump from being a position coach to a coordinator is steep. It is more hours and more pressure. Sure, the Patriots defensive staff collaborates on the install, what to put in and what to practice, but Kuhr puts together the call sheet and ultimately makes the play calls on game day.
Vrabel reinforced the sentiment that it has been a collaborative effort on defense this season but praised Kuhr for the job he did against the Chargers.
“There’s great communication from upstairs, getting it to the players. They certainly respond. All the credit has to go to them. But Zak was able to change up some calls there at the end. I felt like that mixed the pressure in because that’s what we felt like we needed.”
Vrabel says the opportunity to coach the players means a lot to Kuhr and the recognition he is getting for the job he’s done has done is well earned.
“I would tell you this means a lot to him. These players mean a lot to him. I think that they want to do well for Zak and for the entire staff that put a lot into it. I’m proud of Zak for not only the performance calling the game, but the preparation and what goes into it. He’s earned every bit of recognition that he’s getting and should get. Again, it takes everybody.”
Despite the plaudits, Kuhr has been focused on coaching the defense, not on the job he has done this season.
“I’ve never really thought about it. Maybe I’m a little bit more tired now, that’s about it. It’s always been the same. Come in, try to work my butt off and not let the rest of the guys down. I want to help in any way I can whether they be staff or players. I do whatever they ask me to do to the best of my ability and really put my actions and work into the people that believe in me. This is great collaborative, collaborative ideas. We have great relationships on the staff with the players. I just try to do my part.”
Kuhr has done his part and then some. The season is far from over but the Patriots defense will come to play on Sunday thanks to a coach who has had them well prepared all season long.