Another new face is joining the New England Patriots coaching staff.
The Patriots are expected to hire Keith Jones as a coaching assistant, according to a report Thursday from ESPN's Mike Reiss.
Jones was part of the Patriots' coaching contingent at the 2023 East-West Shrine Bowl earlier this offseason, serving as an assistant defensive line coach. He also was with the Patriots in training camp last summer as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowship, per Reiss, and spent the last two seasons as a defensive graduate assistant at Arkansas State (2021) and Arkansas (2022).
Before going into coaching, Jones was a defensive lineman at Tennessee-Martin and played for the Iowa Barnstormers in the Indoor Football League.
Jones is the fourth reported addition to the Patriots' coaching staff this offseason and the first on the defensive side of the ball. The previous three were offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Bill O'Brien, offensive line coach Adrian Klemm and tight ends coach Will Lawing.
Those are speculated titled for Klemm and Lawing, as the team has yet to officially announce either's hiring.
The Patriots are set to return their entire defensive staff from last season. Barring any positional reassignments, that group should feature Jerod Mayo and Steve Belichick coaching linebackers and jointly coordinating the defense, DeMarcus Covington coaching the D-line, Mike Pellegrino working with cornerbacks and Brian Belichick leading the safeties.
New England has not lost a defensive position coach since Bret Bielema departed after the 2019 season, and that continuity has been an asset. The Patriots ranked in the top four in Football Outsiders' defensive DVOA in each of the last two seasons.
