Bowen and Vrabel worked together in Tennessee and now join back up in New England.
The picture of what 2026 in Foxborough will look like continues to take shape. On Friday afternoon, it was announced that the New England Patriots would be adding a new member to their coaching staff: former Giants and Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.
Bowen reportedly will be joining the Patriots as a defensive analyst on Mike Vrabel's staff.
This isn't the first time Vrabel has had Bowen on his coaching staff; as mentioned above, Bowen was the Titans' defensive coordinator, and it was while Vrabel was the head coach there.
Bowen was in Tennessee from 2018 to 2023. He was an outside linebackers coach for the team for 3 years before being promoted to defensive coordinator for the remainder of his time with the team.
After which, Bowen made his way to the Meadowlands to become the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants under Brian Daboll. In November of 2025, Bowen (and Daboll) were fired from the team. Vrabel commented on Bowne being let go from the Giants around the time it had happened.
"Shane's a close friend," Vrabel said. "We started in this business together at Ohio State. Shane's a good football coach. This business is... again, things happen. They make decisions. So, I'll support Shane the best that I can and his family, but then also focus on everything that we have here. So, that's kind of how this thing goes."
Indeed, the two's friendship and coaching bond does go back a ways. Vrabel and Bowen did cross paths at Ohio State back in 2012, when he, the Patriots' newest hire, was a graduate assistant there. Bowen then served as a defensive assistant under Vrabel with the Houston Texans before following the coach to Tennessee.
There seems to be a coaching tree of sorts taking shape in New England, a group of guys who all know one another. Longtime coaching partner Terrell Williams has taken on a new role as assistant head coach after surviving a cancer scare last season that is now in the rearview. Newly appointed defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr worked under Bowen with the Giants in 2024. Lastly, safeties coach Scott Booker, cornerbacks coach Justin Hamilton, and defensive line coach Clint McMillan all worked with Bowen in Tennessee.
Vrabel's coaching tree seems to be growing.
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