Patricia, Pepper front-runners for coordinators job

With Dean Pees gone, the focus now shifts to the two likeliest candidates to replace him as Patriots defensive coordinator: Matt Patricia and Pepper Johnson.

The two couldn’t have taken more different routes to Gillette Stadium — Patricia is a bright young mind who came to the NFL by way of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, while Johnson was an NFL star who has managed to climb the coaching ladder by sheer hard work.

But over the last few seasons, both have become integral members of the New England coaching staff. And if the Patriots decide to promote from within — as they usually do — both are the even-money favorites to become the Patriots’ next defensive coordinator.

Patricia just finished his sixth season in the NFL and his fourth as the Patriots’ linebackers coach. The 35-year-old, who was a Division 3 star at RPI, joined the New England coaching staff in 2004 as an offensive assistant and quickly rose to become the linebackers coach in 2006 at the age of 32.

Recently, it was made clear that more has been put on his plate. When Pees has been moved upstairs the last two years, it has been Patricia who wore the red shirt on the sidelines that tips defenders off to look in his direction for the assignment. Along the way, he has managed to win the respect of the New England linebacking corps.

“He always knows what’s going on all the time,” said linebacker Rob Ninkovich of Patricia. “He’s very up to speed on everything. He knows the adjustments, he knows all that stuff. He’s definitely telling us all the right information at the right times.

“He knows everything. He knows every play that’s going on, what play can happen. He’s a good coach that’ll give you all the right information. He’s going to tell you what formations are going to happen, what plays are going to be run. All that stuff. He definitely knows a lot of stuff.”

Ninkovich believes Patricia is head coaching material.

“Anytime you have a coach that knows all the formations to where he can say, ‘This is what’s coming out of this formation — if the quarterback does this with his hand, this is what’s coming,’ it's impressive,” Ninkovich said. “You just have to listen to him because he knows his stuff.”

“He’s a real good coach,” linebacker Pierre Woods said of Patricia, the only position coach he’s ever known as a professional. “Very smart. Very intelligent. Has a great knowledge for the game when it comes to breaking down opponents. He does a great job.”

As for the 45-year-old Johnson, he goes back a long way with Patriots coach Bill Belichick. A former All-American linebacker from Ohio State, he won two Super Bowls with Belichick and the Giants as a player from 1986-92. He also played for Belichick in Cleveland in 1993, and the two joined forces again with the Jets in 1997 and ’98, when Bill Parcells was in charge of the Jets.

Belichick gave Johnson his start in coaching, hiring him as an assistant linebackers coach in 2000. Johnson was promoted to inside linebackers coach in 2001, then moved to defensive line coach in 2004, where he’s been since then.

While Patricia’s role has expanded over the years — and he certainly appears to be on the fast track for a head coaching job sooner rather than later — Johnson also has big points in his favor, because he’s the only member of the Patriots’ coaching staff who has played in a Belichick-coached defense.

“I think the big thing that Pepper brings to our staff that is really unique is that he’s played in this system and he's actually done it out there on the field,” Belichick said earlier this month. “That’s been important, not just [to] our defense, but to our entire team, talking to players.

“He’s got a wealth of experience, and he’s very good at sharing that.”