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Covington spent last season as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator after a lengthy stint as that team’s DL coach.
It appears that the Green Bay Packers have their new defensive line coach. After conducting a fairly wide search outside the organization, Green Bay has settled on an individual with experience as a defensive coordinator as well as a Super Bowl ring.
The Packers are expected to announce the hiring of DeMarcus Covington to that vacant post, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. Covington, who will turn 36 years old in March, has worked for the New England Patriots in multiple roles since 2017. He spent the 2024 season as the team’s defensive coordinator under head coach Jerod Mayo, a post that followed a four-year stint from 2020 to 2023 as the Patriots’ defensive line coach.
Covington went into coaching immediately after his college football career concluded, spending a few years as a graduate assistant at Alabama-Birmingham and Ole Miss. He went on to coach the defensive line at the University of Tennessee-Martin in 2015, then was the co-defensive coordinator and DL coach for Eastern Illinois in 2016 before starting his Patriots tenure the following year.
New England made it to a pair of Super Bowls during Covington’s tenure with the team, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles after the 2017 season and defeating the Los Angeles Rams the following year. Covington was a defensive assistant in each of those two years, then got a promotion to outside linebackers coach for 2019 before moving to the defensive line for good in 2020.
Although the Patriots went 4-13 in each of the last two seasons, their defense has been at least reasonably effective during that time. The 2023 season saw that team lead the NFL by allowing just 3.3 yards per rushing attempt with Covington coaching the defensive line, and they have been ranked in the top half of the league in that statistic for each of the last three seasons.
The Packers, meanwhile, improved their run defense in 2024 under new DC Jeff Hafley, ranking third by allowing 4.0 yards per carry. However, the inconsistency of the pass rush will surely be a priority for Covington, having been cited as a primary reason for the team’s firing of Jason Rebrovich.
Covington’s name had not previously been reported in the list of candidates for the Packers, who were known to have interviewed at least three other candidates. Two of the three, Kacy Rodgers and Aaron Whitecotton, have been hired on by other teams for their defensive line openings (Detroit and Dallas, respectively), leaving former Bears DC Eric Washington as the remaining candidate.
It is notable that Rodgers, Washington, and Covington all have experience as an NFL defensive coordinator or co-defensive coordinator. This suggests that the Packers were looking for a coach who could not only lead a defensive line group, but who can also help mold the defensive line’s performance within a full system.
