The New England Patriots were busy bolstering their roster in free agency over the last week. They also made a move to improve their coaching depth.
Jonathan Decoster, who spent the last two seasons as assistant offensive line coach at Florida, is joining the Patriots in a role that as of yet has to officially be announced. NFL insider Joseph Pasteris was first to report the hire.
A four-year starting right tackle at the University of Louisiana, Decoster began his coaching career as a graduate assistant
O-line coach at Nevada in 2013. He later joined West Virginia State, where he held a multitude of roles including offensive line coach and strength coach, and worked as a graduate assistant tight ends coach at LSU for three years.
In 2021, coming off a one-year stint as tight ends coach at Old Dominion, Decoster left the college game to join the Browns. In his three seasons in Cleveland, he worked as offensive quality control coach and later offensive assistant.
Decoster returned to the SEC in 2024, taking on his most recent position as the Gators’ assistant O-line coach. Whether he will continue working in that role in New England remains to be seen, but the team does have an apparent opening after Robert Kugler, who held exactly that title the last two seasons, left to become tight ends coach in Pittsburgh.
Decoster is the third reported addition to the Patriots’ coaching staff this offseason. The team of head coach Mike Vrabel previously added B.J. Edmonds and Charles London in roles that also remain unclear at the moment.
