Jerod Mayo said Dont’a Hightower would be a ‘phenomenal’ coach and wants to recruit him
Mayo and Hightower won a Super Bowl together in New England as players. Could they do it as coaches?
Jerod Mayo and Dont’a Hightower won a Super Bowl together as linebackers for New England.
Mayo is now coaching linebackers for the Patriots, and his name has been floated as a potential successor to Bill Belichick as head coach.
On Tuesday, Mayo told reporters that when he gets his first head coaching opportunity, he wants to recruit Hightower to coach with him.
“I think Hightower would be a phenomenal coach,” Mayo said. “So we’ll see. When I get a chance to run my own ship, I’ll try to recruit him.”
Mayo and Hightower played in New England from the time Hightower was drafted in 2012, until Mayo’s retirement in 2015.
“High and I have always had a great relationship. I was older. He was like a young pup,” Mayo said. “But he was very smart. He was very athletic. I got a chance to play beside him. I got a chance to coach him. There aren’t many people like Hightower in terms of just his smarts. I think that gets overlooked a lot with High. High is a very smart football player. You talk about Randy Moss, no one really talks about his smarts, very smart football player. And that’s Dont’a Hightower.”
Hightower quote-tweeted a video clip of Mayo’s interview and added three of the “👀” emojis.
Mayo, who former Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes called “Bill Belichick 2.0,” said that he wants to stay in New England and that he isn’t planning on leaving anytime soon.
“First of all, my family is here. Second of all, I love it here in Boston,” Mayo told reporters Tuesday. “I was pretty much raised here at this point. I came here in 2008. It would take a lot for me to leave. This is where I want to be. I feel the same way from the coaching staff and also from the Kraft family.”
But, as his coaching profile continues to rise, there’s a chance Mayo could take a look at other head coaching jobs when they open up, despite having turned down an interview for the Panthers head coach opening during the offseason.
“I’m confident that I’ll grow here,” Mayo said. “Where that leads, I’m not sure. Hopefully, I’m here for the foreseeable future, but we’ll just have to see. I am confident in the plan they put together as far as my development is concerned.”
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