New England is bringing the long-time Packers assistant coach on board.
The New England Patriots’ coaching turnover continue. On Monday, the team made another hire, its fourth so far this cycle: Jerry Montgomery, a long-time assistant with the Green Bay Packers, will join the organization as its new defensive line coach.
The 44-year-old is the first addition below the coordinator level, but the move means more than just a shift of focus in the hiring process. With that said, let’s take a big-picture look at what adding Montgomery might mean for the Patriots.
Jerod Mayo fills one open spot on his staff
The Patriots’ coaching staff remains a work in progress on both sides of the ball, but one vacancy has now been filled: after DeMarcus Covington was promoted from defensive line coach to coordinator, New England was in need of somebody to take over his former job. And while there were internal candidates worth considering, the job ultimately went to Montgomery.
This means that, in theory, only one spot remains open on Mayo’s defensive staff: with Steve Belichick leaving New England to join the University of Washington, the Patriots still have to find somebody to coach linebackers.
The other spots on that side of the ball, meanwhile, are filled by cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino, safeties coach Brian Belichick, and coaching fellow Keith Jones. Of course, the entire situation remains fluid; the Patriots might have to end up replacing one or more of them after all.
New England adds experience on defense
Before turning to coaching, Montgomery was a defensive lineman at Iowa and briefly at the pro level. He already started shifting to coaching while already an active player, though, and has since developed quite the résumé.
Montgomery coached defensive lines at Northers Iowa, Wyoming, Indiana, Michigan and Oklahoma before making the jump to the NFL via the Packers in 2015. He went on to spend the next nine seasons working in Green Bay, first as a defensive front assistant, later as defensive line coach, and the last two years as defensive line coach and running game coordinator.
Needless to say, Montgomery has been around and has been exposed to several different types of football — both in terms of quality and schematically.
Christian Barmore will have a new position coach for the first time
DeMarcus Covington served as the Patriots’ defensive line coach for the last four seasons, and he did a fine job (he wouldn’t have been named coordinator if not). This also means, however, that some players only know him as their position coach — among them being stalwart interior lineman Christian Barmore.
Barmore and Covington worked well together, and the results on the field have looked the part. With the ex-position coach now having bigger fish to fry, however, the hyper-talented lineman will have to get used to working closely with somebody else.
The same is true for most other Patriots D-linemen. Only veterans Lawrence Guy and Deatrich Wise Jr. know what New England defensive line meetings look like when not being run by Covington.
Staff cohesion needs to be built
One of the fundamental principles of the Patriots defense is marrying pass rush and coverage together, something that worked very well the last few seasons. In order for this to continue into a post-Bill Belichick era, Montgomery and whoever will coach cornerbacks, safeties and even linebackers quickly will need to work out any potential kinks when it comes to the defense.
The newly-hired Montgomery plays a key role in that, but so does DeMarcus Covington. As the coordinator, he is ultimately responsible for the product on that side of the ball. Getting his new assistant up to speed quickly and acquainted with the rest of the staff will be crucial.
Eliot Wolf’s fingerprints are all over the Patriots
The Patriots have not yet named an official general manager, but director of scouting Eliot Wolf is the closest employee to that title when it comes to his apparent input on the team’s decisions since parting ways with Bill Belichick last month. The Montgomery hire is just the latest example of New England targeting somebody with a prior connection to Wolf, something that also is true for offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.
Montgomery and Wolf spent three years together in Green Bay. The former was a defensive front assistant at the time (2015-17), with the latter working as director of player personnel director of football operations. Now, they have joined forces again.
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