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The New England Patriots will keep the internal promotion theme going with coaching hires this offseason.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer first reported on Saturday, January 27 that “all signs point to the Patriots promoting DL coach DeMarcus Covington to defensive coordinator, per sources”. Breer wrote that it “should be official early next week” and that “New England has called other candidates to tell them they’re out.”
The Patriots’ official website also reported the Covington news on Saturday.
This will mark the second major coaching move via internal promotion by the Patriots this offseason. New England previously promoted Jerod Mayo to head coach after his time as linebackers coach.
Unlike Mayo, Covington never played in the NFL after he played wide receiver at FCS Samford from 2007 to 2010. Covington coached in the college ranks from 2012 to 2016 before he joined the Patriots staff in 2017.
Breer previously reported in his January 23 column that Covington was “a strong favorite” for the job. Mayo’s main task since taking the helm has been filling out/reorganizing the coaching staff.
Covington “brings seven years of experience working in the building to the table—the past five as a defensive position coach alongside” Mayo, Breer wrote. Breer noted that external candidates “Denver Broncos defensive backs coach Christian Parker or Pittsburgh Steelers assistant defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander” both interviewed, too.
Patriots Insider on DeMarcus Covington: ‘He’s Ready’
Patriots insider Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston similarly called Covington the “right choice” during the “Quick Slants” show on Tuesday. After serving as a coaching assistant from 2017 to 2018, Covington coached linebackers in 2019 followed by the defensive line from 2020 to 2023.
“He’s ready,” Perry said on the show. “I just got off the phone actually with a coach who worked with him down at the Senior Bowl, had nothing but glowing remarks in terms of DeMarcus Covington’s readiness.”
“He told me usually defensive line coaches, they’re pretty zeroed in on what happens at the line of scrimmage, but not Covington. He understands the linebacker level, the secondary level as well,” Perry continued. “He had an opportunity on many occasions to address the room so to speak down there in Mobile, Alabama — did that with energy, was impressive in that regard.”
It’s worth noting that the Senior Bowl presents the opportunity for coaches to work with unfamiliar, recent college players, as Perry noted. The Senior Bowl is among the college showcases for NFL prospects to show teams their skills leading up to the draft in April.
“You don’t know anybody. You don’t know the players, you don’t know your fellow coaches, and his people skills really stood out,” Perry said. “Makes him a good match for Jerod Mayo and obviously, he understands what Mayo is going to want to do on defense with all the time they’ve spent together.”
DeMarcus Covington Will Have Veterans to Work With on Defense
Covington will have one thing going for him in 2024 — a Patriots defense that performed well at times in 2023 but suffered from a stagnant offense. Mayo expressed confidence in the defensive personnel during his Monday interview with WEEI.
“We have leaders defensively. We have [Deatrich] Wise, we have [Ja’Whaun] Bentley,” Mayo said.
And the list goes on with linebacker Matthew Judon and defensive back Christian Gonzalez — two defensive leaders the Patriots missed in 2023 due to injuries.
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