NFL Rumors: Patriots Expected to Name DeMarcus Covington DC on Jerod Mayo's Staff

The New England Patriots are reportedly set to promote DeMarcus Covington from defensive line coach to defensive coordinator.

According to Albert Breer of The MMQB, the Pats have called other candidates to tell them they are out of the running, and Covington's promotion is likely to become official early next week.

Covington's appointment is one of the first major moves to be made by Jerod Mayo, who was named the Patriots' new head coach earlier this month after the Pats and Bill Belichick mutually agreed to part ways.

The 34-year-old Covington played wide receiver at FCS school Samford before breaking into coaching in 2012.

Covington had various roles collegiately at UAB, Ole Miss and UT Martin, and he got his first big break in 2016 as the co-defensive coordinator at Eastern Illinois.

He joined New England's coaching staff the following year as a coaching assistant, spent two years in that position, and then coached outside linebackers in 2019 before getting moved to defensive line coach in 2020.

Covington and Mayo worked closely together in recent years, as Mayo joined Belichick's staff in 2019 as inside linebackers coach after previously playing linebacker for the Pats for eight seasons.

During his time as Patriots head coach, Belichick usually refrained from officially naming offensive and defensive coordinators, but his son, Steve Belichick, was the defensive play-caller since 2019.

Per ESPN's Mike Reiss, Steve and his brother, Brian Belichick, were told they would be given the opportunity to stay with the Patriots this season even in the wake of their father's departure.

With Bill Belichick being passed over for the Atlanta Falcons head coaching job and looking like he may not get a job during the current cycle, Steve and Brian won't be able to follow him anywhere.

That means Steve and Brian may very well return, but the appointment of Covington as DC suggests Steve will not retain play-calling duties even if he is back.

It isn't yet clear if Covington or Mayo will call the defensive plays in 2024, but Covington figures to have a ton of say in the defensive philosophy regardless.

While the Patriots need a ton of work on the offensive side of the ball, they return a strong defense that ranked seventh in total defense and 15th in scoring defense this season despite going just 4-13 as a team.