Paul Bretl | 5/15/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — I’m going to guess that DeMarcus Covington’s path to being a defensive line coach and former defensive coordinator at the NFL level is a bit of an unconventional one.
Unlike many defensive line coaches, Covington doesn’t have a background playing that position. In fact, during his playing days at Division I-AA Samford, Covington didn’t even play on the defensive side of the football. Instead, he was a wide receiver.
“I think when you think about coaching, coaching is teaching,” Covington said on Thursday. “And when you’re looking at it like that, if you can teach, and you can get the guys to buy into what you’re saying and then understanding and being able to express those things, not only just what you know. Because it’s really not about what I know, it’s what they know and what I can get them to understand and go out there and perform. So I look at it as just being able to teach.”
“That’s how I do it. If you’re able to teach effectively, you should be able to go down the line and teach anything and apply principles to it. Because principles never really, they don’t change. Not ‘not really,’ they don’t change. So, that’s how I look at it. And then obviously you put in the factor of getting the players to buy into you.”
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However, to state the obvious, in order to be an effective teacher, there has to be a deep understanding of whatever that topic might be. And, to a degree, Covington was effectively starting over when he moved to the defensive line.
This transition to coaching the defensive line came in 2012 when Covington was a grad assistant at UAB. Admittedly, at that time, when he was told that he was moving to the defensive line, Covington wasn’t thrilled. But following that “ugh moment,” as Covington called it, he turned the page and jumped right in.
Motivating Covington to not only make progress as he learned to coach a new position, but to make progress quickly was that he didn’t want to be looked at as someone who didn’t know what they were talking about.
“I did a good job of taking great notes, putting myself in those positions doing the drills, so I can feel the techniques, feel the different things and then when you look at receiver and you look at D-line, there’s a good amount of hand combative that’s just the same,” Covington said. “So footwork, hand combatives, it’s not like much of a difference outside of the size and speed and all that stuff.
“I took pride in that and getting to know the fundamentals and technique and the details of making sure that no one, nobody can question me on what I know to this day.”
Having coached in New England since 2017 and having held various roles, Covington got his “master’s degree” while working alongside Bill Belichick. As a coaching assistant his first two seasons, Covington helped out in all aspects, including on offense and on special teams. On defense, he was an outside linebackers coach for a season, a defensive line coach for four years, and he was the Patriots’ defensive coordinator under head coach Jerod Mayo in 2024.
That season as a defensive coordinator, where Covington is not only in charge of one position, but the entire unit, has given him a different lens to look through now in Green Bay. He doesn’t see the game only through the defensive line position.
“I don’t see the game as just a defensive line coach,” said Covington. “You’re talking to a guy who played offense in college, a guy who coached multiple positions, so I don’t see the game just as a defensive line coach. I see it from a coordinator’s perspective, too, so that helped me, that experience doing it and calling it and getting the real game experience and game-like experience.”
One thing about Covington that drew Jeff Hafley to him during the interview process was that he has taught in a number of different schemes. “They’ve done a lot over there,” said Hafley on Monday. In addition to that, Hafley added that Coving can coach a lot of different techniques, and he’s operated in a variety of fronts.
“I love his demeanor, I love the way he coaches, I love the relationship he has with his players,” Hafley said.
Covington will now be tasked with getting more production and consistency out of the Packers’ pass rush. The inconsistencies last season from the four-man rush are well-documented at this point. The lack of pressure at times even resulted in Hafley having to make a fairly big shift in how he built out game plans, relying more heavily on blitzes and simulated pressures to get home.
For Covington, however, he sees tremendous potential and plenty of pure talent within that Packers’ defensive line room. As Covington recalled, he doesn’t believe he’s ever coached a first-round draft pick before, and he now joins a team where there are four–Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, Kenny Clark, and Devonte Wyatt–just at his position group.
“I would say our personnel guys have done a great job of drafting great, talented players,” Covington said. “Which provides great competition. Which sharpens each other. So, when you as a defensive line coach and you’re looking at players and where to go, I mean, sign me up. Anybody would sign up for this job. Not only just being 1 of 32 to be a defensive line coach [in the NFL], but when you look at the talent we have across the board at each position, sign us up for it.”