DEVOTION PAID OFF
Patriots DC Covington has experience, skill
Carl Covington knew his son had what it took to be a coach when he spotted 12-year-old DeMarcus explaining trick plays to his Little League teammates growing up in Alabama. “When he was coming up, he was able to comprehend stuff quicker,” Carl recalled. “We always had a lot of little trick plays, but he always knew exactly what was going on.
“He would just sort of understand things faster than his teammates. He was always ahead of the game, and knew the ins and outs of everything.”
It’s that sort of preternatural ability to look at plays and schemes and matchups and advantages that came to distinguish DeMarcus Covington as a player in high school and college, and has continued in his coaching career, one that has taken him from coaching assistant to defensive coordinator in his seventh season with the Patriots.
At 34, Covington is relatively young compared with many of his contemporaries. The opportunity to lead an NFL defense is something he takes very seriously, especially at his age.
“There are only 32 defensive coordinators in the world,” Covington said last month when he was promoted. “I don’t take that lightly.
“Even when I was a position coach — there are only so many defensive line coaches in the National Football League. There are so many people that are dying to get our jobs. Or want to get our jobs. I don’t take that for granted.”
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The oldest of three children of Carl and Elaine Covington, DeMarcus was a three-sport star at John Carroll Catholic High School in Birmingham, Ala. With help from football teammates such as Riley Barnacastle, An
drew Steele, and others, Covington played on both sides of the ball, as a wide receiver and defensive back.
The stats were impressive, but his ability to dissect plays and provide insight became invaluable to his teammates and coaches.
“There were lots of times I can picture him explaining things to a freshman or a sophomore why the play was structured like it is,” recalled Barnacastle.
“Just being around him every day, and seeing the way he treated people and the respect he had for people and administrators, and seeing the respect they had for him, that was really extraordinary,” said Steele. “He was someone I looked up to. He just set an example for ‘this is the way you go about doing things.’
“At that time, you don’t really know as a kid, but all of those elements lead someone into being a good coach. As you get older, you kind of connect the dots. With DeMarcus, you look back on the way he acted, and you say, ‘Oh, it’s no surprise he took the road he did.’ ”
A famous influencer
Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan, a graduate of John Carroll Catholic who would go on to star at Auburn, was a sizable presence in Covington’s life. Barnacastle remembers portraits of the high school’s three most famous alums hanging at the entrance that students walked past every day: Sullivan, Nobel Prize winner Eric Wieschaus, and Archbishop Joseph Marino.
“Heisman Trophy winners at the same level as Nobel winners,” Barnacastle recalled with a grin. “Maybe half the students knew who Wieschaus or Marino were, but everyone could tell you who Pat Sullivan was.”
So when Sullivan got the head coaching job at Samford College in Homewood, Ala., Covington — after initially committing to Jacksonville State — followed. He was a member of Sullivan’s first recruiting class at Samford in 2007, and ended up catching 62 passes for 586 yards and two touchdowns from 2007-10.
“Pat would always come home talking about DeMarcus and how proud he was of him,” said Jean Sullivan, the widow of the former coach and Heisman winner. “Even back then, he said that he believed coaching would be a great fit for DeMarcus.
“Pat always had a close bond with DeMarcus; they were similar in a lot of ways.”
In his early years as a coach, Covington hopscotched through the South as an assistant, going from Alabama-Birmingham to Ole Miss to Tennessee-Martin. His first major opportunity came in 2016 when he was named defensive line coach and codefensive coordinator at Eastern Illinois.
However, when Patriots scouts came to Eastern Illinois that year to take a look at linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, Covington made an initial connection. And after leaving EIU a year later to take a position on the staff at Chattanooga, he had another encounter with the Patriots, this time involving Bill Belichick, who came down to work out Keionta Davis.
Belichick eventually called Covington to New England for an interview, and offered him a job as a coaching assistant.
“DeMarcus does a really good job,” Belichick said in 2022. “He’s coached linebackers, coached defensive line, really understands the entire defense. I’m sure he could coach a lot of positions on defense. Young guy that’s really smart, works hard.
“That difference between our interior guys and our outside guys is quite distinct. Pass rush, pass coverage, interior run play, so forth. It’s a lot of different techniques to coach. He’s very well versed in the fundamentals and schemes. He does a good job. Really glad we have him.”
In his early days with the Patriots, Covington made his mark with a tireless approach to film and scouting, all while building personal connections with players.
“He’s always had so much respect for Belichick,” his father said. “He would call all the time and say, ‘Dad, I’m a sponge. I’m just listening to everything.’ ”
Grateful for the opportunity
When Mayo returned to Foxborough as an assistant coach in 2019, it was Covington who acted as his guide.
“When I first got here, he showed me a lot of the behind-the-scenes,” Mayo said. “It was a mentorship — or reverse mentorship, however you want to look at it. I did it on the field, but he also knew how to do the backend stuff.”
Covington ascended relatively quickly, moving from coaching assistant to outside linebackers coach to defensive line coach, a job he held the last four seasons. This past offseason, with so much change in the air, it was easy to see why Covington not only was among the few Patriots coaches who were retained, but was promoted.
The play of the defense, his connection with Mayo, and his impressive body of work the last few years made it an easy decision, according to the head coach.
“He has a great relationship with the players — mind, body, and spirit,” Mayo said. “He always talks about those things. You can see from the development of the players in his room, he was ready for the job.”
Covington doesn’t anticipate making wholesale changes when it comes to scheme or approach. He said last month that he plans on being the primary play caller, and his philosophy is one based on physicality and sound fundamental football.
“I think when you turn on the tape, I think what we want to see is a physical team,” he said. “A team that plays with good discipline and fundamentals. A team that attacks the football and takes it away from the opponent.
“That’s what we’re trying to look for with our defense. And a team that goes out there and plays together, for one another. That type of togetherness.”
In the end, he understands that for all his talents as a coach, he wouldn’t be the one chosen to lead the New England defense into the postBelichick Era if he didn’t have a lot of assistance.
“I have a lot of people who helped me along the way,” he said. “There are people who opened up the door like Coach Sullivan, who gave me the opportunity to coach.
“I know where I started. I know where I’m at now. And I know what I want to be and what I want to do. So when you get put in these positions, you can’t help but be grateful and thankful.”