Dean Pees, a 37-year coaching veteran, was named the defensive coordinator on Bill Belichick's staff on January 17, 2006. Pees served as the Patriots' linebackers coach from 2004-05 and his coaching credentials include six seasons as a collegiate head coach and 15 seasons as a defensive coordinator at the college level. Pees joined Belichick's staff prior to the 2004 season after a tenure as the head coach at Kent State.

The Patriots have averaged less than 20 points per game allowed in every season that Pees has been defensive coordinator. In 2008, the Patriots allowed 19.3 points per game and achieved an 11-5 record despite using 22 different starters on defense, including four rookies. Pees' 2008 defense ranked second in the NFL in forced threeand- out percentage (30.6) and helped give the offense the second best average starting field position in the NFL.

In 2007, Pees' defense contributed to the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history. The Patriots defense allowed 274 points, marking the fourth time in the previous five seasons (since 2003) that New England has allowed fewer than 275 points in a season. The 2007 Patriots ranked fourth in the league in yards allowed per game (288.3), the fewest allowed by a Patriots defense in 28 years, and second in the league in sacks (47). The Patriots defense sent three starters to the Pro Bowl (LB Mike Vrabel, NT Vince Wilfork and CB Asante Samuel).

In his first season as defensive coordinator in 2006, Pees' defense set a franchise record for points allowed per game, giving up an average of just 14.81 points per opponent as the Patriots finished 12-4 and at the top of the AFC East. The New England defense was fourth in the NFL in takeaways and first in opponents' fourth down conversion percentage. The Patriots defense was also second in the league in opponent passer rating. Pees' defense steadily improved over the course of the season, and remained in the NFL's top 10 in total defense for the entire second half of the season. The Patriots finished second in the league in points allowed in 2006.

In 2005, Pees tutored a Patriots linebackers unit that featured three of the defense's top five tacklers and accounted for 22 of the team's 33 sacks. Mike Vrabel transitioned from outside linebacker to inside linebacker during the season and paced the team with a career-high 114 tackles (80 solo), while Rosevelt Colvin's 73 tackles (49 solo) marked the second highest total of his career and placed fourth on the team. Tedy Bruschi, who missed the first six games of the season while recovering from a stroke, placed fifth on the team with 72 tackles (38 solo) despite playing in just nine games.

The contributions of the linebackers in the second half of the 2005 season were a key reason the Patriots were able to clinch the AFC East title by recording six wins in a seven-week span over the final two months of the season. During the month of December the Patriots shut down the run, allowing just 31.3 rushing yards per game. The effort helped to produce four straight December wins, including a 28-0 shutout over Tampa Bay on December 17 to claim the AFC East crown. Additionally, New England allowed just 10 total points over a three-game December span, marking the fewest points allowed over any three games in team history.

Pees marked a solid first season in the NFL in 2004, mentoring a linebackers unit that produced three of the team's top four tacklers. The Patriots defense ranked sixth in the NFL against the run, while New England linebackers recorded 27.5 quarterback sacks. Tedy Bruschi finished second on the team in tackles (128), and fellow starters Ted Johnson (112) and Vrabel (76), finished third and fourth, respectively. Outside linebacker Willie McGinest, also a starter in the Patriots' 3-4 alignment, paced the team with 9.5 sacks. Bruschi, in his ninth NFL season, earned his first Pro Bowl selection.

Pees was hired as the head coach at Kent State on December 17, 1997, faced with the challenge of rebuilding a program that had not produced a winning season in 12 years and had not won more than three games in a season for six years. Once his system was fully implemented, the Golden Flashes showed significant improvement.

In 2001, Pees led the Golden Flashes to a 6-5 record, notching the school's best mark in 14 years, and only the second winning season in 25 years. In his last three seasons at Kent State, Pees' teams won more games than the school had won in the previous decade. Pees' six-year tenure with the Golden Flashes made him the longest-serving head coach in the program's last 40 years.

Prior to securing the head job at Kent State, Pees was the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach on Nick Saban's staff at Michigan State. The Spartans qualified for a postseason bowl game in each of Pees' three seasons in East Lansing and finished with the 13th-ranked overall defense in the nation in his final season.

Pees joined Michigan State after serving as secondary coach on Lou Holtz's staff at Notre Dame during the 1994 season. While in South Bend, Pees coached Eagles Pro Bowl cornerback Bobby Taylor during his senior season in which he was named to numerous All-American teams. He joined the Fighting Irish after four seasons as the defensive coordinator at the University of Toledo, where he was first hired by Saban in 1990. In 1992, Pees' defense allowed just 13.9 points per game as Toledo posted an 8-3 record, including two shutout victories. Pees also served a threeyear stint as the secondary coach at the Naval Academy (1987-89).

Pees began his coaching career with a six-year tenure as a high school head coach. He then entered the college ranks as the defensive coordinator/ secondary coach for the University of Findlay (1979-82) and then held the same title at Miami (Ohio) University (1983-86).

Dean Pees is a native of Dunkirk, Ohio and is a graduate of Bowling Green State University. Pees and his wife Melody have six children - Laura, Meredith, Steffani, Matt, Elli and Tarrin - and three grandchildren - Kade, Cole and Parker.