Patriots Rumors: Cardinals Request To Interview Up-And-Coming Assistant

The Cardinals reportedly want to interview a highly regarded Patriots assistant for their defensive coordinator vacancy.

And it’s not Jerod Mayo.

NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Friday reported Arizona requested to interview New England defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington for their DC job.

The Cardinals are looking to fill out their coaching staff after hiring new head coach Jonathan Gannon, and their first-year general manager, Monti Ossenfort, is a Patriots alum who overlapped with Covington for three seasons in New England.

Rapoport’s report did not indicate whether Covington plans to interview for the Cardinals job, but because it would be a promotion, the Patriots cannot block him from doing so. This would be his first coordinator interview.

The 33-year-old Covington is viewed as a rising star in the coaching ranks, appearing on Tom Pelissero’s 2022 list of future head-coaching candidates.

“He’s very detailed,” Patriots defensive tackle Carl Davis told NESN.com in November. “He’s on us about the little things. He strives for perfection as a coach. You can see it in the way he goes about it, even the way he carries his own self. He’s in the weight room running, in the offseason he’s running with us. So, he’s not just a coach — he’s part of the group.”

Davis said Covington “could be a great defensive coordinator.” Teammate Davon Godchaux took that a step further, saying his position coach can be a “great head coach one day.”

“As a defensive line coach, I think you’ve got to be a good teacher, and he’s a great teacher,” Godchaux told NESN.com. “He’s able to teach us and apply it to the field.”

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Covington got a taste of life as a coordinator earlier this month, serving as DC for the American Team at the 2023 Senior Bowl. He was the only Patriots assistant to coach in that college all-star game, with the rest of the staff working the East-West Shrine Bowl.

The Patriots have turned over their offensive coaching staff multiple times in recent years, but they’ve enjoyed enviable continuity on the defensive side. They have not lost a defensive position coach since Bret Bielema departed after the 2019 season.

Mayo, New England’s linebackers coach and de facto co-defensive coordinator, received interview requests for DC and head-coaching jobs this offseason but turned them down after signing a contract extension.