6 rings: Patriots hire Alex Van Pelt as offensive coordinator
The Patriots took a major step in their post-Belichick franchise overhaul on Thursday, officially announcing the hirings of defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington, special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer, and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.
New head coach Jerod Mayo now has three coaches to work with as he looks to build the next era in New England. Here’s a quick look at each:
--------
DeMarcus Covington, Defensive Coordinator
The one in-house hire for the Patriots’ coordinators, it was first reported last Saturday by SI’s Albert Breer that the job will go to defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington.
Covington, 34, has been a part of New England’s staff since 2017, serving as a coaching assistant in 2017 and 2018 and outside linebackers coach in 2019. He’s been the team’s defensive line coach since 2020.
Prior to landing in Foxborough under Bill Belichick, the Samford graduate coached at UAB, Ole Miss, UT Martin, and Eastern Illinois (where he was their co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach in 2016).
Covington was named to NFL.com's list of young coaches to watch in November of 2022, and served as the defensive coordinator of the American team at the 2022-23 Reese's Senior Bowl.
The Patriots also interviewed Panthers LBs coach Tem Lukabu, Broncos DBs coach Christian Parker, Saints LBs coach Michael Hodges, and now-Raiders safeties coach Gerald Alexander for the position.
Jeremy Springer, Special Teams Coordinator
After failing to land Falcons special teams coordinator Marquice Williams, the Patriots hired former Rams ST assistant Jeremy Springer for the position on Wednesday. Springer interviewed twice for the position– once over Zoom and again this week in Foxborough.
The former linebacker and special teamer at UTEP has spent the last two seasons in Los Angeles under head coach Sean McVay. Before that, Springer spent eight years coaching college football at UTEP, Texas A&M, Arizona, and Marshall. He was the coordinator at the latter two stops.
New England also interviewed former Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey for the position.
Alex Van Pelt, Offensive Coordinator
The final hire the Patriots made was of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.
Van Pelt, 53, played in the NFL from 1993-2003 before getting into coaching in 2005. He started as an offensive quality control coach with the Buffalo Bills. Before becoming their quarterbacks coach in 2008 and their offensive coordinator in 2009.
The Pittsburgh grad has also coached with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (quarterbacks coach, 2010-11), Green Bay Packers (running backs coach, 2012-13 and quarterbacks coach 2014-17) and the Cincinnati Bengals (quarterbacks coach 2018-19). He spent the last four seasons as the Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator and in 2023.
Van Pelt was able to get the most out of a Deshaun Watson, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, PJ Walker, and Joe Flacco QB carousel, but was fired following their 45-14 playoff loss to the Texans in January.
With the Patriots holding the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the OC history of both playing quarterback in the league as well as coaching them is seen as a positive given New England’s need at the position.
Mayo and co. also interviewed Nick Caley, Zac Robinson, Dan Pitcher, Shane Waldron, Jerrod Johnson, Thomas Brown, Tanner Engstrand, Brian Feury, Luke Getsy, Klint Kubiak, and Scott Turner for the position.
--------
So… now what?
Staffs
With leaders now in place, it’s time for each side of the ball to hire their respective staffs.
Offensively, it’s been reported by ESPN’s Mike Reiss that the team is targeting former Rams and Seahawks coach Andy Dickerson for their offensive line coach position. Dickerson has worked under offensive gurus Sean McVay and Shane Waldon over the last several seasons.
The Patriots will also need to fill their several other position coach roles and quality control spots among others. It’s worth noting that wide receivers coach Troy Brown is no longer under contract and, while serving as the offensive coordinator at the Senior Bowl this week in Mobile, failed to wear New England gear.
It’s safe to assume that defensively, Covington may keep at least some of their current staff in place. As of now, though, all roles remain vacant and they’ll need to make any and all subsequent hires official.
Same goes for Springer and the special teams. Last season the unit was manned by coordinator Cam Achord and assistant Joe Houston, and Houston has since took the special teams coordinator job at the University of Florida. It’s also now all but certain that Achord won’t return in any capacity.
Schemes
As their staff starts to take place, the Patriots will also have to decide on and implement the type of football they want to play in 2024.
On the defensive side of the ball they’ll likely continue to lean on Belichick’s 3-4 heavy defense under Covington and on special teams, they likely deviate much from the mean aside from some wrinkles Springer brings along. The big change will come on the offense.
For 20+ years, the Patriots have run several different variations of the Erhardt-Perkins system on offense but under Alex Van Pelt, that will likely all change. Van Pelt has run a West Coast-based system for a majority of his career and all signs point to him continuing that in Foxborough. Their offensive staff hires will likely tie into said scheme as well.
Personnel
Once the schemes are in place, it’s time to find some players to fit them!
Both college football showcases in the Shrine Bowl and Senior Bowl took place this past week in Frisco, Texas and Mobile, Alabama respectively. Some New England brass, including director of player personnel Matt Groh, were on hand in Mobile and, while not confirmed, it’s safe to assume that they had some eyes on Frisco as well.
Moving forward, the NFL Combine will take place at the end of February with Pro Days sprinkled in along the way prior to April’s draft.
Additionally, the Patriots have 24 pending free agents heading into the 2024 new league year beginning in mid-March and, while they certainly won’t sign them all, there are plenty of high-profile players in Mike Onwenu, Kyle Dugger, and Josh Uche among others who New England could, and frankly should, work to keep on the roster.
--------
Needless to say, there’s plenty for Jerod Mayo and co. to accomplish before next season officially kicks off in September. As always, we'll have you updated here at WEEI.com for all of it.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
Related
