Patriots skills guru won’t return in 2025 (report)

A well-regarded Patriots assistant is moving on in 2025.

Joe Kim, director of skill development, will not return next season according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss. A pass rush guru with an extensive background in martial arts, Kim has been with the Patriots since 2018.

“I’ve had nothing but a positive experience with the Patriots,” Kim told Reiss. “The time has come for a new challenge.”

Kim broke into the league in 1992 with Bill Belichick’s Browns and has worked with 11 different NFL teams, on his website. He is a 7th dan black belt in Taekwondo.

“We face our opponents. When we fight and do our fighting actions, we always face our opponents,” Kim told Cleveland.com in 2016. “We have to control both hands, not just one hand. My philosophy has always been let’s win the fight against our opponent, against our opponent.”

Patriots defensive linemen have spoken highly of Kim over the years, including Trey Flowers, who explained the guru’s ability to boil things down ahead of a strong 2018 season.

“He’s definitely someone who has a great knowledge of the game as far as the pass rush and the techniques and the fundamentals,” Flowers said in the summer of 2018. “That’s something you probably didn’t look at as far as breaking it down step by step. Maybe you did, but you didn’t focus on it or pay attention to it.

“Now you’re focused on it and aware of it, and now you know why you’re doing it because you have your body in a certain position and stuff like that.”

However, New England’s pass rush struggled in 2024, finishing dead last in the league with 28 sacks.

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