Patriots reportedly interview Jerry Montgomery for position on defensive staff

Jerry Montgomery spent the past nine seasons with Green Bay.

The elevation of DeMarcus Covington to defensive coordinator has left an opening on the defensive line for the New England Patriots.

A longtime Green Bay Packers assistant is a candidate to take it.

The organization recently interviewed Jerry Montgomery for a position on the defensive staff, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein and ESPN’s Mike Reiss.

Montgomery, 44, spent the past nine seasons in Green Bay under head coaches Mike McCarthy and Matt LaFleur. He served as the team’s defensive front assistant from 2015 through 2017. And in 2018, after being hired as the assistant head coach and defensive line coach at Texas A&M, Montgomery instead agreed to remain in the NFC North as the defensive line coach.

The title of running game coordinator was added to his résumé ahead of 2022. That carried over this past campaign, when Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark collected his third Pro Bowl selection.

With former Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley named Green Bay’s next defensive coordinator last week, however, it was learned that Montgomery would not be returning to the staff.

A three-year starter at the University of Iowa, Montgomery signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2002. The defensive tackle went on to make stops in the Arena Football League with the Chicago Rush, Colorado Crush and Las Vegas Gladiators through 2005 while also beginning his coaching career.

Before entering the NFL ranks, Montgomery had stints at his alma mater in addition to Iowa City West High School, North Iowa Community College, Northern Iowa, Wyoming and Indiana. He then worked as the defensive line coach at Michigan from 2011 to 2012 and continued in the same capacity at Oklahoma from 2013 to 2014, earning Scout.com’s Big 12 Recruiter of the Year. A brief promotion to co-defensive coordinator followed.

Montgomery headed from the Sooners to the Packers in the initial months of 2015.