Covington spent the 2024 season as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator.
DeMarcus Covington, who had been with the New England Patriots since 2017, will not be back with the organization this season. After serving as the team’s defensive coordinator in 2024, the 35-year-old has joined the Green Bay Packers as their new defensive line coach.
Covington worked several jobs after joining the Patriots. Originally arriving as a coaching assistant, he was later promoted to outside linebackers coach and also worked with the defensive line. Head coach Jerod Mayo promoted him to his most recent role, but the unit he oversaw struggled en route to a 4-13 record and Mayo getting fired.
In the aftermath of the Patriots hiring Mike Vrabel as Mayo’s replacement, Covington is now gone as well. Here is what that means for the team.
No surprise
Just three days after the Patriots fired Mayo, Covington already interviewed for another job — a clear indication that he was on his way out of town. New England then hiring Mike Vrabel, who in turn named his former assistant Terrell Williams as the new defensive coordinator, only added more fuel to the fire.
At that point, the questions were when a departure would become official and where Covington would eventually land. Now, we have our answers.
The Patriots not retaining Covington after eight years on their staff is not just the result of Mike Vrabel opting to work with a DC he has familiarity with, though. That move, after all, only was necessitated by the New England defense struggling to serve as the backbone of the team it was internally expected to be in 2024 — a process overseen by Covington as the coordinator.
The numbers do not tell the whole story, but they help visualize the unit’s regression compared to the previous year. After giving up 19.4 defensive points per game in 2023 (i.e. excluding scores through offense or special teams), the Patriots surrendered 22.9 in 2024. They had ranked top 5 in both yards and points per drive in 2023, falling to 25th and 27th, respectively, in those two categories in 2024. They also saw the opponent’s score percentage jump from 31.5 to 42.8 percent, and dropped from 8th to 30th in EPA per play.
Not all the blame falls directly on Covington, but the Patriots keeping him after a disastrous season, even in a different role, was never a realistic option.
Full staff overhaul
With Covington now gone, the Patriots will officially have a new-look coaching staff on the defensive side of the ball. Preceding his departure were those of defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery, linebackers coaches Drew Wilkins and Dont’a Hightower, cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino, and safeties coach Brian Belichick.
In addition, defensive assistant Keith Jones left to join Appalachian State, while fellow coaching assistants Vinny DePalma and Jamael Lett also appear to be unlikely to return. At least on the sidelines, New England’s defense will look dramatically different in 2025.
No more Belichick ties on defense
Even though Mike Vrabel played eight seasons under Bill Belichick, he has now removed all but a handful of ties to the Patriots’ long-time head coach — including none remaining on defense. Even though the writing of his departure was on the wall, Covington remained the last holdover from the Belichick era on that side of the ball.
How that will manifest itself from a scheme and operational perspective remains to be seen. However, it is clear that this version of the Patriots — at least personnel-wise and especially on defense — will be much more of a break from Belichick than Jerod Mayo’s were in 2024.
In fact, when all is said and done, there is a chance that only one member of Vrabel’s coaching staff will have any direct coaching connections to Belichick: Josh McDaniels, who was hired by Vrabel as his offensive coordinator earlier this month. McDaniels previously had two separate stints in New England under the future Hall of Famer, working as his OC for a combined 13 seasons and earning six Super Bowl rings along the way.
Potential free agency impact
As was mentioned in our analysis of the Patriots hiring Scott Booker, money will always be the main driver behind free agency decisions However, all things being equal, factors such as coaching familiarity might still impact where certain players land.
Covington joining the Packers as their defensive line coach could therefore be felt by New England in free agency. Interior linemen Deatrich Wise Jr. and Daniel Ekuale will both enter the open market in mid-March, and might be receptive to the idea of following their former position coach and one-time coordinator to Wisconsin.