The New England Patriots on Monday announced the hiring of two new assistant coaches: assistant special teams coach Cameron Achord and coaching assistant Atif Austin.
Achord’s hiring initially was reported last month by ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss. A former safety at Belhaven University in the NAIA, Achord came to the Patriots from Southwestern Mississippi Community College, where he moved up the coaching ranks before taking over as interim head coach last season.
Achord, who also worked a stint as a graduate assistant at Southern Mississippi, will work under special teams coach Joe Judge. He replaces Ray Ventrone, who left the Patriots earlier this offseason to take a job as special teams coach of the Indianapolis Colts.
Austin played running back at Iowa State from 1999 to 2002 before transitioning to coaching. He held assistant roles at Southwest Minnesota State, Northern Iowa and Stetson University — plus a head-coaching stint at his alma mater, Tarpon Springs High School in Tarpon, Fla. — before landing at FCS powerhouse North Dakota State, where he spent the last four seasons as wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator.
The Patriots have yet to make any announcement regarding former Arkansas and Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema, who attended the NFL Scouting Combine as a Patriots representative and also reportedly assisted the coaching staff during Patriots rookie minicamp. The also have not announced the hiring of martial arts expert Joe Kim, who reportedly will help the team as a pass rush specialist.
The Patriots began organized team activities Monday.
