FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots have announced position responsibilities for six members on the current coaching staff.
Matt Patricia has been named defensive coordinator, Josh Boyer will coach cornerbacks, Brian Flores will coach safeties, Patrick Graham will coach the defensive line and Pepper Johnson will coach the linebackers.
On offense, George Godsey will coach the tight ends.
In addition, Joe Judge has been named special teams assistant and Steve Belichick has been named a coaching assistant.
Patricia will enter his ninth NFL season. After serving as a coaching assistant in 2004 and an assistant offensive line coach in 2005, he was named the linebackers coach in 2006, a position he held for the five seasons (2006-10). He coached the safeties in 2011. After a standout collegiate career as an offensive lineman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Patricia served as a graduate assistant in 1996 before a two-year stint (1999-00) as a defensive line coach at Amherst and a three-year stint as a graduate assistant (2001-03) at Syracuse.
Boyer will enter his seventh NFL season. He served three seasons as a defensive backs coach after being named to the position in 2009. Boyer originally joined the Patriots as a coaching assistant in 2006 and served in that role for three seasons. He was a four-year starter at Muskingum College (Ohio) from 19996-99, playing wide receiver for three years before switching to defensive back as a senior. Boyer began his coaching career in 2000 as an assistant coach at King's College (Pa.), served as a graduate assistant at the University of Dayton (2001) and Kent State (2002-03) before becoming defensive backs coach at Bryant University in 2004. In 2005, he served as defensive coordinator for the South Dakota School of Mines and technology.
Flores will enter his fifth season on the coaching staff and his ninth NFL season. Last year he served a defensive assistant coach. Flores originally joined New England as a scouting assistant in 2004 and was assigned pro scouting duties prior to the 2006 season. Following his four seasons in the personnel department, he joined the coaching staff as a coaching assistant in 2008. In 2010, he served as an offensive assistant coach/special teams. Flores joined the Patriots upon his graduation from Boston College, where he was a three-year letter winner and a two-year starter at linebacker.
Graham will enter his fifth NFL season. He coached the defensive line in 2011. Graham originally joined the New England staff as a coaching assistant in 2009. He served as a defensive assistant coach in 2010. After a playing on the defensive line at Yale, Graham served as a graduate assistant at Wagner (2002-03) and then spent three seasons at Richmond, serving as the defensive line coach in 2004 and the tight ends coach in 2005 and 2006. He was a graduate assistant at Notre Dame in 2007 and 2008 prior to joining the Patriots.
Johnson will enter his 13th season on the Patriots coaching staff and his 26th season in the NFL, including a 13-year NFL playing career at linebacker for the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and New York Jets. Johnson spent the last eight seasons mentoring the defensive line. He began his coaching career in 2000 as an assistant linebackers coach for the Patriots. Johnson was the inside linebackers coach from 2001 through the 2003 season before he moved to the defensive line in 2004.
Godsey is entering his second season on the New England coaching staff after joining the Patriots as an offensive assistant coach in 2010. Godsey entered the NFL after spending the seven seasons (2004-2010) at the University of Central Florida. He was the running backs coach in 2009 and 2010 and the quarterbacks coach from 2005 through 2008. He originally joined the Central Florida coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 2004. A quarterback at Georgia Tech from 1998 through 2001, Godsey played one season in the Arena Football League with the Tampa Bay Storm.
Belichick will serve as a coaching assistant in 2012. He played four seasons of lacrosse at Rutgers before he walked-on to the football team as a long snapper in 2011.
Judge, a Philadelphia, Pa. native, joins the Patriots after a three-year stint at the University of Alabama as a football analyst under head coach Nick Saban. While on the Alabama staff, Judge was a member of two National Championship teams in 2009 and 2011 and assisted with the special teams units. Judge played college football at Mississippi State from 2000-2004. He earned three letters and was voted special teams captain. Following his playing days, he spent three seasons as a graduate assistant at Mississippi State, assisting in all areas of defense and special teams.
