New England reportedly stayed in house to fill its vacant coordinator position on defense.

With Jerod Mayo replacing Bill Belichick as head coach, the New England Patriots will look drastically different in 2024. One of the changes that will come to the organization is the apparent restoration of the defensive coordinator title.

Mayo and the Patriots reportedly set their sights on five potential candidates, including one in-house option: defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington, who is reportedly set to earn the promotion. The 34-year-old was already considered the frontrunner,

With him now taking that next step in his career, let’s assess his history as a player and coach, and why New England considered him for a promotion in the first place.

Who is DeMarcus Covington?

Most recent position: New England Patriots defensive line coach

Age: 34

Playing background: A wide receiver/defensive back hybrid during his high school career at John Carroll Catholic in Birmingham, AL, Covington spent four years at Samford from 2007 to 2010. Seeing most of his action as a wideout — he was a three-year starter at the position for the Bulldogs — the two-star recruit left school with 62 receptions for 586 yards and a pair of touchdowns on his résumé.

Coaching background: Covington graduated from Samford in 2011, and the following year began his coaching career as a defensive graduate assistant at UAB. He joined Ole Miss in the same position in 2013, and after two years under head coach Hugh Freeze moved on to take his first position role: UT Martin hired him in 2015 to coach the Skyhawks’ defensive line.

He departed after just one season to join head coach Kim Dameron at Eastern Illinois. Serving as co-defensive coordinator — together with another Patriots DC candidate, Michael Hodges — he led a unit that surrendered 28.2 points per game and helped the Panthers finish with a 6-5 record. Covington also worked as defensive line coach, with his position group registering 17 sacks and giving up 4.0 yards per rushing attempt.

After one season, Covington was on the move again. This time, he was off to the pros.

The Patriots hired him as a coaching assistant for the 2017 and 2018 seasons, before making him their outside linebackers coach in 2019. One year later, he was promoted to his most recent position as the team’s defensive line coach.

Why will he be the Patriots’ next defensive coordinator?

Covington was one of five reported coaches to interview with Jerod Mayo for the Patriots’ defensive coordinator position, and unlike the others offers familiarity with New England’s new head coach and a proven track record within the system. The 34-year-old, after all, has coached alongside Mayo ever since the latter returned to the organization in 2019.

Back then, Covington was responsible for the outside linebackers with Mayo working with the inside linebackers. The two operated closely together, something that did not change even after their responsibilities started to shift a bit from 2020 on.

Mayo getting a first-hand look at how Covington coaches, and having a preexisting relationship with him certainly did not seem to hurt his case. Neither did the fact that he is one of the hottest young coaching commodities in the NFL: he already interviewed for two defensive coordinator positions last offseason — a sign that teams feel he is ready to take the next step in his development — and was also chosen to coordinate a team at the Senior Bowl in 2023.

The Patriots making Covington their next DC also likely has to do with the overall construction of their team and coaching staff heading into 2024. The defense, which was led by Mayo and Steve Belichick as de facto co-defensive coordinators, was one of the best in football over the last few seasons.

While that might have still remained the case with an outside hire, the schemes put in place have worked well for the organization. Mayo therefore seems to have taken a “never change a winning team” mentality into his coordinator search.

This story was originally posted on Thursday, January 25 — before Covington’s reported promotion. It has been updated accordingly.