Terrell Williams is standing on the floor of the San Jose Convention Center, reminiscing about hormone therapy and handwritten letters from Iowa.
The defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots has made it only a few yards on his walk from the stage to the pen where assistant coaches are due to spend Opening Night of Super Bowl LX.
But his presence in this dark hall is proof of all the steps he has taken and all the progress he has made since last fall, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
‘When I first got the news in September, I never thought about a Super Bowl,’ Williams says. ‘I was just hoping to be okay.’
Back on September 8, the 51-year-old headed to urgent care. He had been vomiting and suffering from a stomach virus. As for the pain in his shoulder? Williams assumed he had simply slept in an awkward position.
But tests revealed that he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread throughout his body. He went through chemotherapy and hormone therapy and, the Boston Herald reported, a strict diet of medication.
Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Williams is back with the team for Super Bowl LX
The 51-year-old has been sidelined for most of the season after being diagnosed with cancer
Williams was treated by paramedics for dehydration during Opening Night in San Jose
His day job, meanwhile, was put on pause. Williams ran the Patriots defense on Week One of the 2025 campaign but missed New England’s next 19 games.
‘Mentally, it was tough because you just didn’t know what the outcome might be,’ the 51-year-old tells the Daily Mail.
Doctors warned him the cancer could be fatal. ‘But I trusted in my faith and my wife was very supportive. [She] helped me keep my spirits up.’
The football world did their bit, too. ‘The phone calls, the text messages, the emails, the notes from fans,’ Williams continues. ‘I read them all, and a lot of them brought tears to my eyes.’
And then last week, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel revealed that Williams was well enough to travel to Santa Clara for Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks.
‘I’m just thankful and grateful [for] the journey,’ he says. ‘I’m just happy to be where I am right now.’
Williams has been through rough days and – at times – his mind has wandered to ‘dark’ places: ‘It was emotional. And, honestly, I look around at all the players and the staff, and I’m just happy for them. That we all get to experience this together.’
Vrabel reiterated on Tuesday that the defensive coordinator has beaten cancer but these last few months have taught Williams that nothing is ever certain. ‘What I’ve learned is that you’re never really cancer free,’ the 51-year-old explains. ‘So the doctors told me and everything was great – I was excited, I was emotional… but I also know there’s still a journey ahead.’
Cancer is only ‘dormant,’ rather than defeated. ‘You always have the threat of it coming back,’ he adds. And Monday night brought a reminder of Williams’ fragile health. At Opening Night, he stumbled before paramedics helped him into a wheelchair and treated him for dehydration. Thankfully, MassLive reported, Williams rode back to the team hotel with the rest of Vrabel’s staff.
Williams, who received the diagnosis in September, joined New England before this season
The defensive coordinator has done his bit to build one of the NFL’s meanest defenses
Back on September 28, the Patriots honored Williams on the screen of Gillette Stadium
The 51-year-old is scheduled to have a sixth – and final – round of chemotherapy on Tuesday. By then, he could have won the first Super Bowl of a coaching career that began at a Kansas community college in 1998.
‘I’m excited for our players, I’m excited for this organization, I’m excited for New England fans,’ he says. ‘All the people that have put a lot of work into us getting here… it’s not really about me at all.’
Try telling that to Patriots players and coaches. As quarterback Drake Maye put it earlier this season: ‘What a story. It’s been something for us to rally around and somebody to care about… it’s just bigger than football.’
Williams joined the Patriots ahead of the 2025 season and his influence came under the spotlight recently, when ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith praised him for building one of the NFL’s meanest defenses.
Smith was roundly mocked by fans who pointed out that Williams has been sidelined for most of the season, with inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr stepping up as de facto defensive coordinator.
It’s true, Kuhr has been leading meetings and calling the defense since Week 2. But through all the pain and all the uncertainty, Williams remained a key part of the staff.
‘Going through chemo, it was just however I felt during that time. I would come in and help with the gameplan where needed and give my advice,’ the defensive coordinator explains.
Inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr has stepped up as de facto defensive coordinator
‘I just helped out during the week, because a lot of the work is done [then].’ He would sit in on meetings and speak to players. ‘We all collaborate together to formulate a gameplan. That that’s what I was able to help do.’
When his body allowed, that is. ‘I mustered up enough strength to come in there and help out when I could,’ he continues. Sometimes just for a few hours.
‘It just depended on the day and the week, because my No 1 focus was my health and taking care of that. And then worrying about the gameplan.’
Those months of treatment gave Williams more time at home to see his family, to watch his 13-year-old son’s hockey games and to reflect.
‘On life and how I can be a better person overall,’ he says. ‘How I can just contribute, really, not just in football, but in life.’
That means helping others by opening up – including to his teenage son. ‘I’m a very private person, but I think you can learn a lot from people when you talk about cancer,’ he explains.
‘I got many phone calls from people around the country – and other coaches – just about them dealing with cancer, or relatives dealing with cancer.
‘And I want to be able to spread my word and my experience – but in a private way. Because it’s such a private thing that you’re going through, and I think that only the people that have been through it can really, truly understand it.’
Perhaps the biggest lesson the 51-year-old learned? The value of checking in on others. Even strangers. Williams has never played or coached at Iowa state. ‘I have no connection other than John Heacock,’ he explains.
Heacock recently retired after nearly a decade as defensive coordinator of the Cyclones. But? ‘He had his players, coaches – everybody – write me handwritten letters probably once every two weeks, just checking in to see how I’m doing,’ Williams explains.
‘I don’t even know these guys, but I felt like I got to know them… it makes you realize that, man, you don’t have to give money. Sometimes, just giving time or giving someone a compliment or just asking how they’re doing – that can go a long way. And that taught me something.
Williams heaped praise on head coach Mike Vrabel for his support over recent months
Williams’ bond with Vrabel was forged long before this battle with cancer. They previously worked together on the Tennessee Titans and Vrabel would come along to watch Williams’ son play baseball.
‘We’ve always had a great relationship, a personal relationship,’ he explains. ‘But now, going through this… I saw even more how much he cared – not about Terrell Williams the coach, but Terrell Williams the person.’
Vrabel was among those to push Williams to get checked over back in September. And since then?
‘He was adamant about getting myself right, not trying to rush to get back.’ On the days Williams wasn’t at the practice facility, Vrabel would call multiple times. They would never discuss football. Instead, Vrabel would ask: ‘How are you doing? How’s your family doing? What do you need?’
All the while, the head coach was building a team fit for the Super Bowl. Vrabel and Williams joined the Patriots after two straight 4-13 seasons in New England.
‘It’s been great just to watch the growth from the time we got here in January of ’25,’ the defensive coordinator says.
‘I can’t speak enough about him and his ability to lead… [and] his ability to also follow when he needs to follow.’
Williams adds: ‘He’s an unbelievable head coach. I don’t know if he’s going to win the coach of the year, but he’s my coach of the year.’
Victory on Sunday would be the crowning moment of a remarkable journey – for Williams and this team. The Patriots will arrive at Levi’s Stadium as the underdog. But they’ve already upset the odds this season – both on the field and in the hospital.
