According to ESPN, the Patriots have recruited Jerry Montgomery, former Packers defensive line coach and run game coordinator, to their coaching staff.
Montgomery, 44, had the longest tenure on Green Bay’s coaching staff. After 11 years as a college coach, he joined the Packers in 2015 and tutored outstanding defensive tackles, including Pro Bowlers Kenny Clark and Mike Daniels. The Packers recently recruited former Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley as their new defensive coordinator and are rearranging their defensive staff.
Montgomery is a clear choice to replace incoming Patriots defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington as the team’s defensive line coach. Montgomery, like incoming Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, worked alongside Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf in Green Bay from 2015 to 2018. Wolf also has ties to former Giants head coach and two-time offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, who is said to be in talks to join the franchise.
Montgomery began his coaching career as a student assistant at Iowa in 2002, progressing through high school and community college divisions before serving as the defensive line coach at Northern Iowa for two years. He also had brief stints at Michigan, Wyoming, and Oklahoma before joining the Packers as a low-level assistant in 2015 under former defensive coordinator Dom Capers, who formerly coached the Patriots.
Montgomery was a three-year starting defensive tackle at the University of Iowa. From 2003 to 2005, he played in the Arena Football League for the Chicago Rush, Colorado Crush, and Las Vegas Gladiators, while also coaching high school and community college football.
The Patriots’ current defensive staff includes Covington, Montgomery, and holdover assistants Mike Pellegrino, Keith Jones, and Brian Belichick, assuming they remain under new head coach Jerod Mayo. Belichick has already been offered a position on the new staff, and his brother, linebackers coach Steve Belichick, allegedly accepted the defensive coordinator position at the University of Washington on Monday.
