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Dont’a Hightower reportedly leaving Patriots coaching staff
Hightower joined the Patriots' coaching staff in 2024 after a lengthy playing career.
The offseason changes to the Patriots‘ staff have continued since Mike Vrabel was named as the team’s head coach. And as a few familiar faces return to New England, at least one more is set to leave.
Dont’a Hightower, a former Patriots linebacker who helped the team win three Super Bowls in 10 seasons, joined now ex-New England head coach Jerod Mayo’s staff in 2024. But after Mayo was fired following the 4-13 season, Hightower is reportedly on his way out as well.
According to MassLive’s Mark Daniels, Hightower — who served as the team’s inside linebackers coach — as well as outside linebackers coach Mike Wilkins, aren’t going to be a part of Vrabel’s staff.
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The reported decision comes amid the hiring of a flurry of new coaches to join Vrabel’s growing staff. This has included, as Daniels pointed out, coaches who have specific experience coaching linebackers, such as former Florida A&M assistant Milton Patterson and ex-Titans inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr.
Hightower, 34, was a first-round pick by Bill Belichick out of Alabama in 2012. He emerged as a defensive leader, a two-time Pro Bowler, and a player with a knack for making clutch plays (especially in the Super Bowl).
As for what his future might be, Hightower could still have a long coaching career ahead of him. Wilkins had praised his fellow linebackers coach back in August.
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“I think as a coach the sky’s the limit for him. This guy is going to be a head coach in the NFL,” Wilkins told reporters. “He’s so smart. So gifted as a communicator. And [he] understands the game at such a high level, which makes sense when you realize the defenses that he’s been in.”
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