Before he was plotting schemes for a Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots team, Robert Kugler was hunched over a desk, dissecting and writing his senior thesis on a Shia prime minister in the 1950s. But that’s off the field; on it, he started 43 straight games at center as a two-time captain. Both have nothing in common, except for Kugler that academic past matters, and he made sure to give a shoutout. 

“Thank you! My history award is the one I’m most proud of from my time at @LifeAtPurdue,”Kugler wrote in a X post.

Purdue Football also shared that pride, celebrating the CLA alum’s journey from Boilermaker center to NFL coach. And well, he was a star at the university, so it makes sense. He earned three Academic All-Big Ten honors, was a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District 5 selection, a three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar-Athlete, and a second-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree. Mind you, all this while posting an impressive 3.85 cumulative GPA. He also landed on the Dean’s List every semester during his undergraduate career.

A 2015 Purdue graduate, Kugler managed his games and completed a double major in history and political science. Then he signed a free-agent deal with the Buffalo Bills and soon after jumped into coaching. Infact coaching runs deep in his family with his dad, Sean Kugler, who spent years as an NFL OL coach, including a stop in Buffalo, where he worked with former Patriots OC Alex Van Pelt.

He started teaching at UTEP as a graduate assistant, then at Washington, then at AppState. By 2020, he helped App State run for over 265 yards per game, turning heads in the process. The NFL came calling first with Houston, then Carolina, and now the Patriots, where he’s in his second season as assistant OL coach.

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Kugler joined back in 2024 when the offensive line was in desperate need of some stability. That was after a season that allowed 48 sacks and 10 different line combinations over 17 games.

Patience pays off

Last year, Robert Kugler’s name wasn’t exactly being celebrated in New England. When Mike Vrabel stepped in as a head coach, a lot of voices questioned why they chose to retain Kugler from the previous staff. The O-line had struggled badly, finishing at 30th and 32nd for pass and run blocking, on Pro Football Focus. Some suggested that a fresh start would’ve been the safer move. But Vrabel stuck with him.

“The goal in filling out the 2025 Patriots coaching staff was to identify loyal, trustworthy coaches who are diverse in background, ideas, experiences, and systems,” Vrabel said. “We are going to build a program that players, coaches and staff want to be a part of, protect and be proud of. There are so many great people in this building who help our players and the coaching staff on a daily basis. I am excited to work side by side with them to build this program.”

While new faces like Josh McDaniels and Terrell Williams joined the staff, Kugler stayed back. And now its clear why Vrabel trusted him.

“That’s a good group in there. Doug’s in charge, but Jason Houghtaling – Hoss – and Kugs [Robert Kugler], I think we’re lucky. I think those guys really do a good job. Like I said when I talked about the staff, they can all take a group and coach them. Pre-practice, individual. So, you see a lot of that is split up, and guys are getting work and reps, so there’s a lot of confidence there,” Vrabel said earlier this season.​

The Patriots’ o-line has been doing much better than last year. And for Kugler, it’s exactly the kind of reward you get after sticking around.