The NFL revived its accelerator program this year, and a member of the New England Patriots’ coaching staff will be among the participants. Terrell Williams, who served as the club’s nominal defensive coordinator in 2025 before moving to assistant head coach position this offseason, is one of 34 people partaking in this week’s event.
A career defensive line coach up to that point, Williams arrived in New England alongside head coach Mike Vrabel last year and was promptly given his first coordinator opportunity. However, multiple health issues including a prostate cancer diagnosis kept him out for large parts of the season and limited him to only one game as a member of the active staff.
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Williams has since been declared cancer free, but the Patriots opted not to retain him as DC in 2026. Inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr was promoted to the position after serving as stand-in defensive play-caller last season, with the 51-year-old himself moving to assistant head coach.
Apparently, however, that role is not the peak of Williams’ ambition.
The accelerator program was originally founded in 2022 to help increase leadership diversity all over the league; when it was established, there were six minority head coaches and seven minority general managers. Three years later, however, it was cancelled before being reintroduced this year with a shifted focus.
“The May accelerator is intended to focus on advancing talent from underrepresented groups while remaining open to qualified senior-level candidates of all backgrounds,” the NFL said in a memo to its 32 teams.
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As a consequence, the program now features a variety of candidates. Among them are Williams as well as two former Patriots, Texans offensive coordinator Nick Caley and Texans assistant general manager James Liipfert.
