How the hiring of Jeremy Springer as special teams coordinator will affect the Patriots. New England acquires former Rams assistant. The New England Patriots have a new special teams coordinator. New head coach Jerod Mayo’s team will hire former Los Angeles Rams assistant Jeremy Springer as special teams coordinator, it was announced Wednesday morning.
Springer spent the last two years as an assistant special teams coach in Los Angeles. Now he must take the next step on the coaching ladder as he is one of three coaches to be interviewed for the Patriots position. Let’s take a look at what this means for the Patriots in general terms.Jerod Mayo takes the second step.The Patriots’ new head coach has two coordinator jobs.
After promoting DeMarcus Covington from defensive line coach to defensive coordinator, he brought in Springer as his first outside hire. A key domino must fall with him: the offensive coordinator. New England interviewed 11 candidates, but only six were available Wednesday.
The Patriots offered the special teams coordinator job to another candidate, Marquis Williams, but he decided to stay with the Atlanta Falcons under new head coach Raheem Morris. This eventually opened the door for Springer to fill the position.The Patriots have confidence in Springer’s coaching abilities. New England’s special teams didn’t live up to expectations in 2023, but they were much better than the Rams’.
Los Angeles ranked last in the NFL last season, according to respected pundit Rick Gosselin. In comparison, the Patriots ranked 13th.Things didn’t look so good in Los Angeles in 2022, Springer’s first season with the Rams under special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn. The team moved up from 16th last year (compared to the 16th-ranked Patriots) to 29th.
However, two opinions are warranted regarding this ranking.1.) It’s difficult to gauge how much of an impact Springer had on the Rams’ special teams. 2.) Such rankings are not necessarily indicative of a coach’s profession.That said, the numbers themselves don’t paint a particularly pretty picture.
Finally, the Rams ranked last in the league in four categories in 2023, including kickoff return average (16.1 yards), kickoff coverage (15.5 yards), points allowed ( 14) and point interception (3).
2024 will be a testing year for both the Patriots’ special teams and their new coordinator. New England’s kicking game is completely fluid.The writing was already on the wall, but Springer’s hiring confirms that the Patriots’ special teams will be fresh in 2024. Exactly what that will look like remains to be seen, but the coordinator likely won’t be the only new face on the team. building.
Assistant special teams coach Joe Houston is gone. I will be starting work at the University of Florida next year. His predecessor, former special teams coordinator Cam Acord, is also expected to leave the Patriots. Not only did his job go to another coach, but he was out of contract. Accord has been with the Patriots since 2018, including the past four years in the role.
Coach Joe Judge, who spent a lot of time in the kicking game in 2023, is unlikely to return. He has been speculated to follow Bill Belichick for his next head coaching job, but the former Patriots coach is unlikely to join the NFL this year, and Judge’s future is also uncertain. Troy Brown also falls into this category.
In addition to coaching the wide receivers, he has worked with the kick returners since his arrival in 2020. Brown himself, now coaching in the Senior Bowl, seems familiar with his ambiguous behavior.The change may not just end with the coaching staff. Veteran special teams players Matthew Slater and Cody Davis are both candidates to retire, and Adrian Phillips, who played 70 percent of the snaps last year, is uncertain to return. There may be other schedule changes with a new coordinator in town.
The Patriots have at least one coach with ties to Sean McVay.New England expressed interest in several Rams assistant coaches this offseason, but saw one of them, offensive coordinator Jack Robinson, take a job with the Atlanta Falcons. One of the others has actually joined the Patriots, and he might not be the only one. Rams coach Nick Caley, who coached for several years in New England under Bill Belichick, is running for the OC position.
