Dont’a Hightower returns to Patriots as linebackers coach

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – First-year New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo is popping to an previous teammate to fill a void on his teaching workers, hiring Dont’a Hightower to work with the staff’s linebackers.

Hightower brings championship pedigree to his first teaching job, having received two nationwide championships at Alabama, and three Tremendous Bowl championships with New England.

He performed for the Patriots from 2012-2019, and after opting out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, returned to play one last season in 2021. He was chosen by the Patriots within the first spherical of the 2012 draft and had earned the nickname “Mr. February” from former head coach Invoice Belichick due to his clutch play in Tremendous Bowls.

Mayo had foreshadowed the potential for hiring Hightower final 12 months, saying that if he ever turned a head coach, he would try to recruit Hightower to his workers. Mayo and Hightower have been teammates in New England from 2012-2015, and Mayo was an assistant coach on workers for Hightower’s last two seasons with the membership.

“He can be an exceptional coach,” Mayo mentioned on the time.

Belichick had additionally mentioned: “Dont’a’s mix of intelligence, positional versatility and physicality made him one of many rarest of gamers that I’ve ever coached.”

Hightower will work below first-year defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington, who has served because the staff’s line of defense coach the earlier 4 seasons. Former Packers line of defense coach Jerry Montgomery was employed to work with New England’s line of defense, whereas cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino and safeties coach Brian Belichick are returning in 2024.