It’s official.

The Patriots announced they promoted defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington to defensive coordinator and hired Rams special teams assistant Jeremy Springer as their new special teams coordinator Thursday.

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Covington was promoted last Friday at the end of a two-week defensive coordinator search. He coached the Patriots’ defensive line the past four seasons and served as the team’s outside linebackers coach in 2019. Covington originally joined the staff as a coaching assistant in 2017.

The 34-year-old was long seen as the Patriots’ top internal candidate. He is widely respected inside the building and viewed as a rising star. Covington interviewed for defensive coordinator jobs with the Chargers and Cardinals last offseason, when he also worked as a defensive coordinator at the Senior Bowl and drew rave reviews.

If he returns, defensive play-caller Steve Belichick is seen as a potential candidate to become an assistant head coach or advisor, according to ESPN. Belichick and new head coach Jerod Mayo effectively co-coordinated the defense since Mayo joined the coaching staff in 2019.

Springer was hired on Wednesday, following a second interview with the team. He has two years of NFL coaching experience and eight at the college level. Springer previously worked as the special teams coordinator at the University of Arizona (2018-20) and Marshall (2021).

Last season, Springer, 34, helped lead a bottom-ranked Rams special teams unit under first-year coordinator Chase Blackburn. The Rams’ special teams ranked among the NFL’s worst in more than 40 years, by the opponent-and-situation-adjusted metric DVOA. However in 2022, Springer helped kicker Matt Gay make 93.3% of his field goals, the second-highest mark of Gay’s career; a result Mayo may have found encouraging after watching rookie kicker Chad Ryland make fewer than two-thirds of his kicks last season.

In media interviews, Springer has espoused a coaching philosophy rooted in energy and passion. He took the job after the Patriots reportedly offered it to Falcons special teams coordinator Marquice Williams, who opted to stay in Atlanta with new head coach Raheem Morris. Thursday’s announcement coincided with the hiring of new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who filled the last coordinator vacancy on Mayo’s staff.

The Patriots are not expected to hold any press conferences for their new coordinators.