FIRST-TIME ASSISTANT COACH DONT’A HIGHTOWER EARNING POSITIVE REVIEW FROM PATRIOTS CAPTAIN

While the extensive changes on offense drew most of the attention, the New England Patriots’ defensive coaching staff also experienced significant turnover this offseason. Among those was hiring an old friend to coach inside linebackers: Dont’a Hightower.

Four months into his return to One Patriot Place, Hightower has had limited contact with his players — such is the nature of the NFL’s offseason workout rules. Nonetheless, the first reviews about the first-team coach are in, and they are quite positive.

“It’s great,” said linebacker and Patriots team captain Ja’Whaun Bentley this week. “It’s kind of something he’s always been doing even when I played with him. Now he just has the title along with it, and he’s not hitting anybody anymore.”

When Bentley arrived in New England as a fifth-round selection in the 2018 draft, Hightower was already established as a franchise cornerstone and one of the most clutch performers in team history. The aptly-nicknamed “Mr. February” was entering his seventh season with the team, and already a two-time Super Bowl winner at that time.

In total, the 2012 first-round draft choice appeared in a combined 134 regular season and playoff games for the Patriots. A team captain himself, he retired in 2023 as the owner of three championship rings.

Less than a year later, he was back with the team — taking over an assistant role under new head coach Jerod Mayo. This allows him to work closely with two of his former teammates: Hightower played with Mayo between 2012 and 2015, and with Bentley between 2018 and 2022.

“It’s big for me, especially, having him out there, seeing it from a different perspective,” Bentley said about Hightower now being a position coach rather than a teammate. “Obviously, having Jerod last year, too, so you got a whole bunch of brains to the operation, kind of helping out getting things done, which is fun. It makes the game a lot more fun.”

With Hightower and Mayo leading the way, the path from linebacker to coach is a well-traversed one in New England. So, could Bentley — who also resides in the same locker as the pair — one day make that transition as well?

For the 27-year-old, it is too early to tell. He is, however, trying to keep building on his career so far while continuing to absorb as much as he can from coaches and teammates alike.

“I’m always looking to build on what I’ve already done, as well as take different things from everybody else,” Bentley said. “I call myself kind of a ‘professional thief’ in that aspect. I always liked to find different things — whether it’s Jerod, Hightower — different things they did to play — Jamie, all of my OGs who came before me. Take bits and pieces from them, and try to implement to what I got going on here.”

2024-05-03T22:22:56Z dg43tfdfdgfd