Report: Patriots hire former Alabama staffer as special teams assistant

Former Alabama staffer Joe Houston will add some depth to New England’s special teams coaching staff.

The New England Patriots have brought on former Alabama staffer as their assistant special teams coordinator, according to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic.

He began his coaching career in 2012 as El Camino’s special teams and secondary coach for two years, moving up to the special teams quality control assistant for Toledo in 2015. Houston spent the next few seasons at Iowa State with a similar job title, before the Crimson Tide brought him in 2019 as a quality control staffer to assist with special teams.

The Patriots are without a special teams coach after the departure of Joe Judge, leaving current assistant Cam Achord as a candidate to take the role over. Achord spent time as the assistant since 2018 and could get promoted with Houston serving as the assistant.

Houston was USC’s starting kicker in 2010 has an expertise in helping kickers. Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell had nothing but positive things to say about Houston.

“Joe is definitely one of the most dynamic, young special teams coaches in the country,” Campbell said, per the Des Moines Register. “He’s maybe the best kicking coach in the country.”

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