Two days after Dont’a Hightower arrived to coach the linebackers, the New England Patriots hired another assistant to work with the position group.Drew Wilkins, who spent the 2023 season with the New York Giants, will join as outside linebackers coach. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport was the first to report the move.Wilkins, 36, entered the NFL in 2010 after beginning his career as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Maryland.
He spent the first 12 years of his career with the Baltimore Ravens, holding various positions on the team’s support and coaching staff.After working as a video operator and personnel coordinator, he made the jump to defensive assistant coach in 2014. He was promoted to assistant defensive line coach in 2017, and outside linebackers were added to his duties the following year.He was the only Ravens OLB under defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale in 2020 and 2021 until the Giants in 2022.
Wilkins was fired early last month after Martindale left the organization after serving in the same position he held in Baltimore two years ago.Wilkins was considered for a higher position at the college level, but has now decided to stay in the NFL and join the Patriots.
