Patriots expected to stay in-house to fill defensive coordinator position

Covington, 34, has been seen as a rising star assistant coach around the NFL and has been with the Patriots since the 2017 season. He started with the team as a defensive assistant, worked his way up to outside linebackers coach and then took over the defensive line starting with the 2020 season.

While it might seem curious for a team that's won just 12 games over the past two seasons (and just went 4-13 this past season) to be promoting from within, the Patriots' defense was never really the problem. 

That unit has ranked in the top-half of the league for the better part of the past decade, and played extremely well this season despite some big injuries (including star edge rusher Matt Judon). They finished the 2023 season 15th in points against and seventh in yards against.

The Patriots also lost five games this season where they allowed 20 points or less, including four games where they allowed 17 points or less. Three of those games saw them lose by scores of 10-6, 10-7 and 6-0. 

If nothing else the defense played well enough to at least double the team's win total with even an average offense. 

If Mayo and Covington can keep building on that momentum defensively and figure out the quarterback situation (perhaps with the No. 3 overall pick in the draft) this might be a relatively quick turnaround for the Patriots. Or at least quicker than people might have originally thought.