PATS CATCH PRAISE FOR REMADE COACHING STAFF
A year ago, confusion abounded at the NFL Combine.
The Patriots intended to fill their new vacancies at offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and offensive line coach with … Matt Patricia and Joe Judge? How?
Why?
But Tuesday, the league struck a different tone. Praise for the Patriots’ remade coaching staff was consistent across the GMS and head coaches who met reporters on the first full day at the combine. Some of the earliest praise came courtesy of an old rival: Pittsburgh.
In 2019, the Steelers hired Adrian Klemm, now the Patriots’ new offensive line coach, as a low-level assistant. Two years later, Pittsburgh promoted Klemm to lead offensive line coach. During that time, he rubbed elbows with a highranking executive, Omar Khan, who within a year became the Steelers’ new GM.
“I loved his energy,” Khan said. “And his honesty and his demeanor were great.”
Klemm reportedly received a significant pay increase after making roughly $1 million last year as the offensive line coach and associate head coach at the University of Oregon. At Oregon, Klemm’s O-line allowed five sacks last season, the fewest in major college football. In Pittsburgh, his Steelers line helped rookie running back Najee Harris rush for 1,200 yards one season and allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL over another.
“Adrian was great. I loved my interactions with him,” Khan said. “We had great conversations. … Just a good person to be around. (I) really enjoyed our time with him.”
Tuesday’s sea of praise also reached the shores of Patriots defensive line coach Demarcus Covington and new offensive coordinator Bill O’brien. The 33-year- old Covington recently interviewed for defensive coordinator jobs with the Chargers and Cardinals. Covington and first-year Arizona head coach Gannon were acquaintances when the Cardinals filed an interview request, but the sitdown brought him into an entirely new light for Cardinals brass.
“His interview was very impressive. I learned a lot,” said Gannon, formerly the Eagles’ defensive coordinator. “And I actually told coach Belichick that, after that coach Belichick knows how to coach the coaches because this guy was on it. It was a really cool interview for me.”
Covington is now considered a rising star inside the Patriots’ building and around the league. Like linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, who interviewed for multiple head- coaching jobs in recent years, he intends to lead a team one day.
“He’s right there,” Gannon said. “He’ll be a defensive coordinator next year.”
“Demarcus is a talented young coach,” Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort added. “He’s got a bright future in this league.”
Unlike his new colleagues, O’brien is no rising star. He’s a known commodity in NFL circles with a respectable resume as a head coach and offensive coordinator dating back to 2009. Mcdaniels, the last person to hold his title in New England, believes O’brien will help Patriots quarterback Mac Jones recover from a down year.
“I think he’s a great coach,” Mcdaniels said of O’brien. “Billy’s worked with a lot of quarterbacks before, and they’ve all had success, and he’s impacted all of
those guys in a positive way. He knows the position really well, understands the league, understands how to get the most out of players at this level. He’ll do a great job.”
Mcdaniels remembered O’brien joining the Patriots staff in 2007 after several years coaching in college. He said it was apparent O’brien was a clear fit in New England, where he took over Mcdaniels’ playcalling duties two years later.
“You could give him a lot of responsibility and
he could handle it. All the things that Billy has accomplished and achieved since then haven’t surprised me at all,” Mcdaniels said. “Being successful as a coordinator in New England, winning at Penn State, winning in Houston, going down to Alabama and being part of their success there — none of that has surprised me.”
O’brien spent the past two seasons at the University of Alabama, where the Crimson Tide ranked fourth in the FBS in points per game last season. In 2021, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young won the Heisman Trophy under O’brien’s tutelage. As a projected top-5 pick, Young
won’t join O’brien in New England, but he may land with O’brien’s old team, the Texans, who own the second overall pick in the draft.
Representing Houston on Tuesday, GM Nick Caserio indirectly hinted at how O’brien might also modernize the team’s offense with his experience at Alabama.
“Teams are really doing a good job of implementing some of the concepts in college to our game,” said Caserio, a former Patriots executive. “So ( you’re) trying to stay ahead of some of those trends — the league’s constantly evolving.”
And after a lost season and confusing combine, so, too, are the Patriots.