The ever-expanding Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator search expanded again on Wednesday, as the team is now reported to seek an interview with former Patriots defensive coordinator and current Packers defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington.
If you’re keeping score at home (and you should maybe get a new hobby if you are), that means the Cowboys are interviewing or have sought interviews with nine candidates:
- Broncos assistant and passing game coordinator Jim Leonhard.
- Minnesota Vikings pass game coordinator Daronte Jones.
- Cleveland Browns safeties coach Ephraim Banda.
- Ex-Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon.
- Current Cowboys defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton.
- Former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr.
- Philadelphia Eagles DBs coach and pass-game coordinator Christian Parker.
- Giants interim defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen.
- And now, Green Bay Packers defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington.
There was a 10th interview request for Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who was the Jets’ interim head coach in 2024 after the firing of Robert Saleh. But Atlanta denied that request for an interview, and there is no word on whether it will be revisited.
DeMarcus Covington Won a Super Bowl on Patriots Staff
Covington certainly has a wealth of experience operating under a variety of defensive coordinators from his time with the Patriots, where he coaches from 2017 through 2024, mostly under Bill Belichick. Covington was part of the defensive staff that won Super Bowl LIII, holding the Rams to a field goal in a 13-3 win.
Covington was a wide receiver in college, at FCS school Samford, but has been a defensive assistant throughout his career, spending four years in New England as the defensive line coach.
He moved to the defensive side of the ball with his first coaching job, at UAB, and has steadily progressed from there. As he recalled, “When they first told me I was moving to D-line, I was pissed. I was like, ‘How’s a guy like me going to coach D-line?’ So, what do you do as a young guy? You dive in. … You have to turn the page.”
Cowboys Seeking a Teacher
Covington has also said his focus is always on teaching, which is an aspect that Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said is important to him in his next coordinator. There were reports after the firing of Matt Eberflus last week that Eberflus was too set in his outlook on how to coach the defense, and was not good at communicating and teaching his system to players.
The Cowboys want a coach more in Schottenheimer’s enthusiastic, hands-on mold. Covington’s defense struggled in his one year as the defensive coordinator in New England, in 2024 after the team moved on from Belichick and brought in Jerod Mayo. But he’s gotten back to teaching in Green Bay.
“When you think about coaching, coaching is teaching,” Covington said. “If you’re able to teach effectively, you should be able to go down the line and teach anything and apply principles to it. Because principles don’t change. … And then obviously you put in the factor of getting the players to buy into you.”
Cowboys to Make Move on Super Bowl Champ for DC Job