Who is Jeremy Springer, and why will he be the Patriots’ next special teams coordinator?

New England has found its next special teams coach.

The New England Patriots have filled another gap on their coaching staff. Jeremy Springer, a former assistant coach with the Los Angeles Rams, will be their next special teams coordinator.

Springer was one of three coaches reportedly in consideration for the position, and has now become Jerod Mayo’s second hire since he took over as head coach earlier this month. He also is the first external coach to join New England’s staff this offseason.

With all that said, let’s take a closer look at Springer and his background to find out who he is as a coach, and why he will be the Patriots’ next special teams coach.

Who is Jeremy Springer?

Most recent position: Los Angeles Rams assistant special teams coach

Age: 34

Playing background: A multi-sport athlete in high school, Springer started his football career as a wide receiver before eventually making the switch to quarterback. An all-state selection as a senior at Los Fresnos (TX) High School — when he passed for 42 touchdowns and ran for 15 more — he joined the University of Texas at El Paso in 2007.

Despite his high school success, Springer failed to make a similar impact at UTEP. He started his career in a redshirt capacity before slotting into a backup role, and eventually changing positions: he moved to off-ball linebacker in 2009 and ended his career with 161 tackles as well as an interception. The one-time team captain began exploring a move into coaching as a senior with the Miners.

Coaching background: Springer started out as a football operations assistant at UTEP while still an active player, and later moved into a graduate assistant role for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Primarily working with the defensive line and in the kicking game, he laid the foundation for his move to Texas A&M: in 2015, the Aggies hired him as a special teams quality control coach under head coach Kevin Sumlin and ST coordinator Jeff Banks.

Springer spent three seasons in College Station before taking a job as special teams coordinator at Arizona — following Sumlin, who was fired by Texas A&M after the 2017 regular season. His special teams units with the Wildcats were graded as the 58th-, 111th-, and 70th-best in the nation by Pro Football Focus (compared to 106th and 122nd, respectively in the years before his arrival and after his departure).

After Sumlin was fired at Arizona, Springer left as well. Instead of joining the staff of former Patriots assistant coach Jedd Fisch, he took his talents to Marshall, where he spent one season as special teams coordinator. The Thundering Herd graded No. 75 in special teams, despite scoring a pair of kickoff return touchdowns and being on the plus side compared to the opponent in both kickoff and punt return average.

After one year under head coach Charles Huff, Springer was set to join Ole Miss in 2022 but instead decided to enter the NFL: the Rams under head coach Sean McVay hired him as their assistant special teams coach.

Springer worked under coordinators Joe DeCamillis and Chase Blackburn in 2022 and 2023, trying to get one of the worst special teams units in football back on track. However, the efforts were in vein: L.A. found itself near the bottom of the league both seasons, struggling virtually everywhere. The return and coverage units were not up to par, and neither was the place kicking operation.

Nonetheless, he will now get his first opportunity to serve as a special teams coordinator at the pro level.

Why will he be the Patriots’ next special teams coordinator?

We asked Kenneth Stein of SB Nation’s Rams community, Turf Show Times, his thoughts on Springer but he noted that the impact he may or may not have had on Los Angeles’ special teams the last two years is virtually impossible to assess from the outside. Springer was very much operating behind the scenes throughout his tenure with the club.

“There wasn’t really any reporting related to Springer and the Rams did have the worst special teams in the NFL, which is nothing unusual,” he told Pats Pulpit. “It is incredibly ironic that Sean McVay would have any special teams coach who is desired by a team and he wouldn’t want to keep him.”

Indeed, Springer’s track record in the NFL does not appear to be overly impressive. As noted above, the Rams were among the league’s worst in the game’s third phase in back-to-back years with him as part of the operation.

Of course, there are several factors contributing to this; NFL performance both on and off the field can never be evaluated in a vacuum. Jerod Mayo and the Patriots know this as well, which is why they showed interest in Springer in the first place.

During the subsequent interview process, it appears he presented a plan that convinced the team to consider him for the position — at least as a second choice: the Patriots had reportedly offered the job to fellow candidate Marquice Williams, but he eventually elected to stay with the Atlanta Falcons. This, in turn, appears to have opened the door for Springer.

So, is Springer merely a consolation prize? If the Patriots were indeed serious about hiring Williams and not also bringing Springer on board alongside him in some capacity, the answer to that question has to be “yes.”

Neither that nor the Rams’ issues the last two years necessarily say something about his coaching qualities, though. He had to do something right in his hiring process in New England to get the job, even though it will be hard to judge on January 31 what that might have been or whether it will translate to on-field success for a unit that had its own share of ups and downs under previous coordinator Cam Achord.

To get back to the question above, therefore, it appears his hire by the Patriots can be explained in basic terms like most other such moves: he was available and willing to come aboard, and outlined a vision for his unit that convinced the decision makers in New England to give him a shot.