The 34-year-old will take over the vacant role.

Jerod Mayo is on the verge of making his first big move as the new head coach of the New England Patriots. As first reported on Saturday afternoon, Mayo and his club will make DeMarcus Covington the new defensive coordinator.

Covington, the lone in-house option to reportedly interview for the position, was considered the frontrunner throughout the process. It is not hard to see why: the 34-year-old has a bright future ahead of him, and promoting him from defensive line coach to coordinator was the natural next step for both him and the Patriots.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, however. Instead, here is our quick-hit analysis of what the move will mean for the organization from a big-picture perspective.

The Patriots opt for continuity

As noted above, Covington was the lone internal candidate to interview with Jerod Mayo for the defensive coordinator spot. Him getting the nod over the other candidates ensures that a prominent position on one of the best defenses in football will remain in familiar hands.

Covington, after all, has been with the organization since 2017. He started as a defensive assistant, moved to outside linebackers coach in 2019, and to his most recent position working with the defensive line one year later. His familiarity with both Mayo and the rather successful system put in place is likely a key factor why he will become the new DC.

The continuity aspect might also extend beyond the coordinator spot. Whereas an externally-hired leading coach on that side of the ball might have brought some of his own assistants aboard, Covington will likely try to retain much of the staff that is already in place.

The big unknowns from that perspective, of course, are Steve and Brian Belichick. The sons of departed long-time head coach Bill Belichick are two of the most experienced coaches on staff, but their future is unclear despite a) the elder Belichick being unlikely to work as a head coach in the NFL in 2024, and b) both having received an offer to stay in New England.

It remains to be seen what they will opt to do, but by hiring Covington as coordinator the Patriots at least ensure that the top spot on the defensive staff will be in well-known hands.

The defensive coordinator title is back

The Patriots have employed coordinator-like assistant coaches the last few years. With neither Brian Flores nor Jerod Mayo and Steve Belichick officially holding that position despite their status as lead coaches on the defensive side of the ball, however, the club has remained DC-less for the last six years.

The last defensive coordinator was Matt Patricia, who served in that capacity between 2012 and 2017. Now, Covington will fill Patricia’s shoes.

New England’s defense will have a new play-caller in 2024…

Although he was officially listed as linebackers coach, Steve Belichick had been calling plays for the Patriots defense for the last few seasons. However, even if he will be back with the team in 2024 — possibly as an assistant head coach or senior advisor — it seems unlikely he will resume his former role: Covington calling plays moving forward seems like the way New England will go.

With Belichick ahead of him on the quasi-coaching depth chart, his opportunities to do that in the past has been limited. That doesn’t mean he brings no play calling experience to the table, though.

The Bill Belichick-led Patriots trained multiple members of their staff in the art of calling plays on both offense and defense, and Covington was part of that developmental process as well. In addition, he also served as a defensive coordinator at the Senior Bowl last year.

…and a new defensive line coach

With Covington moving up the ranks, the Patriots will have a vacancy on their defensive staff: his former role as D-line coach is up for grabs now. It appears there are several candidates to fill it, though.

Internally, Keith Jones, Joe Kim and Mike Pellegrino appear to be names to watch.

Jones spent 2023 on the Patriots’ staff as part as a coaching fellow, and has experience working with the defensive line from previous stints at Arkansas, Arkansas State and Missouri Southern State. He also worked as assistant D-line coach on the Patriots’ East-West Shrine Bowl staff last season — a distinction he share with Kim, whose official role is director of skill development but who has extensive experience working with pass rushers.

The defensive line coach on that Shrine Bowl staff, meanwhile, was Pellegrino. The 30-year-old has been coaching cornerbacks since 2019, but he might want to expand his coaching oeuvre to bolster his résumé.

There also are some external candidates to consider. Carolina Panthers outside linebackers coach Tem Lukabu, for example, might make sense to be added as D-line coach; he also interviewed for the coordinator spot and has experience coaching a defensive line.

If the Patriots want to make a big if unlikely swing, they could also bring in Mike Vrabel: the former NFL linebacker, head coach, and member of the Patriots Hall of Fame, coached the defensive line at his alma mater, Ohio State, in 2012 and 2013.

One of the most promising young coaches in the NFL get locked up, for now

At 34, Covington will become the second-youngest defensive coordinator in the league once his hire is made official. Earning a position like that despite his relative youth speaks for itself: he is a rising star, and that’s not just because Jerod Mayo thinks highly of him.

Covington also was invited to a pair of DC interviews last offseason, with the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Chargers both expressing interest in his services. While he did not get either job, those interviews plus his body of work as a whole have made it clear that he will remain a name to watch.

That very much is still true, but the Patriots have found a way to keep him in the fold at least for the foreseeable future and make hiring him away a bit more complicated for competing teams. Speaking of which…

2020 Resolution JC-2A might become relevant at one point in the future

We might be getting ahead of ourselves a little bit here, but it is worth mentioning nonetheless given what was just mentioned about his status as a young up-and-comer: Covington climbing up the coaching ladder, puts him one step closer to becoming an NFL head coach at one point in the future.

Time will tell whether he is a suitable candidate, or even has HC aspirations, but if a team does hire him away the Patriots will be entitled to draft pick compensation via league resolution JC-2A: if a club loses a minority coach or executive to a head coaching or general manager gig, respectively, it would receive extra third-round selections in two subsequent drafts.

As of right now, Covington looks like the most realistic candidate the Patriots have within their ranks.

One spot down, two to go

With the search for a defensive coordinator over, the Patriots can turn their attention to the two other big vacancies on Jerod Mayo’s staff: offensive and special teams coordinator. The team has already interviewed several candidates but doesn’t appear close to making a final decision yet.