One of Jerod Mayo‘s coordinators is expected to land elsewhere. DeMarcus Covington is expected to become the Packers’ defensive line coach, ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky reports.
Although Covington interviewed for the Bengals’ defensive coordinator job, he has not been connected to another coordinator position since. In addition to the Covington move, Demovsky notes the Packers are planning to promote Sean Mannion to quarterbacks coach. This will be an important early-career elevation for Mannion, who ended his playing career after the 2023 season.
A Bill Belichick 2017 hire, Covington has spent his entire NFL coaching career in New England. The former college assistant worked his way up from an assistant level to position coach to Mayo’s DC. Covington had been in place as the Pats’ D-line coach from 2020-23, before climbing to a DC post. Other teams spoke with Covington about DC opportunities previously, though the year under Mayo did not go especially well.
Belichick had built a perennially reliable defense, and even his final Patriots unit — one that was without Matt Judon and Christian Gonzalez for most of the 2023 season — ranked seventh in terms of yardage despite the team going 4-13. The Mayo-Covington defense, which lost Judon to a late-summer trade but saw Gonzalez become a second-team All-Pro, fell to 22nd. Covington, 35, will look to rebound in Green Bay.
Mannion, 32, joined the Packers as an offensive assistant last year. The team saw Tom Clements‘ latest retirement open its QBs coach position, and while Connor Lewis was in place as the team’s assistant QBs coach in 2024, Mannion — a nine-year NFL veteran — is poised to land the job. The notion of third-string passers rising rapidly on the coaching market has included Davis Webb‘s Broncos transition and now David Blough being coveted by a few teams; Mannion is now on this track as well. This promotion also comes as ex-Packers QBs coach Luke Getsy is staying on as a senior offensive assistant.
Mannion and Matt LaFleur overlapped during the latter’s 2017 one-off as Rams OC; the Rams had drafted Mannion in the 2015 third round, primarily using him as Jared Goff‘s backup over the course of his rookie contract. Mannion enjoyed multiple tours as Kirk Cousins‘ backup with the Vikings, playing that role under Mike Zimmer and then Kevin O’Connell. The latter, of course, managed to vault from short-stint NFL backup to the Coach of the Year favorite.
Mannion made just three career starts — due to teams resting starters or a starter’s (Cousins, in this case) COVID-19 contraction, with the latter instance involving a start in Green Bay — and lost all three. This sort of resume has not impeded Webb or Blough, and the Packers will entrust Mannion with a key responsibility as they continue to develop Jordan Love.