7 things to know about new Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo
Mayo's spent most of his adult life with the Patriots, but he held a couple of interesting jobs between his stints with the team.
Roughly 24 hours after Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft held a joint press conference to announce the end of the legendary Patriots coach’s tenure, the team already declared who his successor would be.
Mayo was officially named the Patriots’ next head coach early Friday afternoon, with the announcement coming a few hours after the news broke that he would be replacing Belichick.
Many Patriots fans likely already know a good deal about Mayo, who has spent most of his adult life with the organization. But in case you need a refresher, here are seven things to know about the Patriots’ next head coach.
He enjoyed a decorated playing career with the Patriots.
Many likely still think of Mayo more as a former player than they do as a current coach, but there’s a good reason for that.
Mayo was one of the pillars of the Patriots’ roster for practically his entire eight-year playing career, making an impact right away. The 10th overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, Mayo won Defensive Rookie of the Year, posting 128 combined tackles as he helped New England’s defense rank among the best in the league that year.
Mayo’s emergence continued as he became one of the faces of the early years of the second half of the Patriots’ dynasty run. He led the NFL in tackles in 2010, recording 175 combined tackles that season to help him earn his first first-team All-Pro nod and Pro Bowl honor. He earned the second Pro Bowl nod of his career two years later, when he recorded 147 combined tackles and three sacks.
Unfortunately for Mayo, his career took a turn in 2013. He tore a pectoral muscle in October of that season, cutting his year short after six games. A year later, Mayo suffered a torn patellar tendon in the sixth game of the season, also ending his year short and causing him to miss the Partriots’ Super Bowl XLIX win.
Mayo played all 16 games regular-season games for the Patriots in 2015, but he was mostly played in a backup role. He suffered another season-ending injury in the postseason that year, leading him to announce his retirement from playing football in February 2016.
Mayo earned quick respect from his teammates and coaches for his work ethic and football IQ.
Mayo became a team captain in his second year as a pro, a rarity for non-quarterbacks. But his teammates understood why as he commanded respect from players on both sides of the ball.
Late in the 2009 season, former Patriots coach Bill Belichick called Mayo an “outstanding” leader, understanding why his teammates voted him as a captain so soon.
“He’s the defensive signal-caller and one of our best players and one of our most prepared players and one of our most productive players,” Belichick told reporters at the time. “All that leadership and that role on the team of being in the middle of the defense on every play, run or pass, calling the signals, he’s emerged into the real leader on the defensive side of the ball.”
Additionally, Mayo gained respect from the coaching staff early on in his career as he studied film at the team’s facility during the offseason and later in his career when he was missing games due to injury.
He has a unique draft day story.
Unlike what many top prospects used to do, Mayo opted not to go to New York City to attend the NFL Draft in 2008. Instead, he opted to remain at home in Virginia, doing a household chore that day — but also had some drinks to celebrate the occasion.
“I was raking leaves with my mom. I was raking leaves outside. So my brothers, we rarely get together, but when we all get together we like to have a drink or two,” Mayo told the “Pats from the Past” podcast in 2022. “So one of my brothers was like, ‘All right, we’re going to do a shot every pick that goes by that you’re not picked.’ So I was like whoa! If I would have went 20th, I wouldn’t be here today. That’s why I don’t drink Patron to this day now. Because we were drinking Patron and I was the 10th overall pick. So you do the math.
“It was a good time though. It was a celebration. There were a lot of tears because honestly, these are things you think of when you’re a five or six-year-old kid.”
He worked as a TV analyst for a few years after retiring and held a separate business job.
Coaching wasn’t Mayo’s first occupation following his playing days. Shortly after his retirement, Mayo picked up a pair of jobs to remain in the Boston area.
The most notable was with NBC Sports Boston, co-hosting “Quick Slants” with Tom E. Curran and serving as a panelist on its Patriots postgame show for a few years. During the time that he wasn’t on the small screen, Mayo worked at Optum, serving as its vice president of business development in the finance department. He was also named to Boston Medical Center’s Board of Trustees in 2016, adding to his diverse résumé.
He quickly became a coaching commodity after joining the Patriots’ staff in 2019.
Mayo opted to end his days of working outside of football ahead of the 2019 NFL season, rejoining the Patriots as their inside linebackers coach in 2019. By the end of his second season as a coach, Mayo had already begun interviewing for head coaching jobs in the NFL.
One team, particularly, was impressed.
“Philadelphia, when he interviewed there, he blew them out of the water,” Fox Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer told NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry of Mayo’s interview with the Eagles following the 2020 season.
The Eagles opted to hire Nick Sirianni instead, which Glazer said he told them was a mistake.
“They called me about it, and I said, ‘If he really blew you out of the water that much, don’t make a mistake and whiff on him,'” Glazer said. “The Dolphins did that with Mike Tomlin. ‘Oh, we want an offensive coach.’ That’s what the Eagles said: ‘We want an offensive coach.’
“Man, the Dolphins could have been sound and secure for a long time if they just went with the best guy to lead their team. Mayo blew people out of the water.”
From there, Mayo’s name popped up among the early list of possible head coaching candidates for a handful of jobs. He interviewed for the Broncos’ and Raiders’ jobs in the 2022 offseason, losing out to Nathaniel Hackett and Josh McDaniels, respectively.
Mayo was set to interview for the Panthers’ head coach position in the 2023 offseason, but an extension from the Patriots put an end to him looking at outside opportunities.
When he spoke to reporters for the first time in the 2023 offseason, Mayo reiterated his desire to become a head coach, but wouldn’t say what the details of his extension with the Patriots entailed.
“First of all, my family’s here,” Mayo told reporters on why he remained in New England. “Second of all, I love it here in Boston and 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.”
It was revealed Thursday though that the Patriots had put a succession plan in Mayo’s extension for him to become head coach, notifying the NFL as it allowed them to not have to go through a thorough head coaching search.
Earlier that offseason, Kraft hinted at the idea that Mayo could be the Patriots head coach.
“There’s no ceiling on [Mayo’s] ability to be a head coach,” Kraft told reporters at the league’s annual meetings in March 2023. “And he’ll be a head coach. I’m sure of that,” Kraft said. “I hope he’s with us, so we’ll see what happens.”
He explained that his coaching style is focused on building relationships.
Mayo’s coaching career is still young. He just completed his fifth season on the Patriots’ staff and has never been a defensive coordinator.
But Mayo knows what kind of leader he wants to be and what he strives to do as a coach.
“I coach out of love. Once you build that relationship with a guy, you can be tough on the players,” Mayo recently told reporters. “But if you don’t have that warmth before confidence; it was a little different when I played. Whatever the coach told you to do, you just go out and do it. But this generation is a little bit different. They want to understand the ‘why.'”
Mayo is the franchise’s first Black head coach.
When the Patriots introduce Mayo as the team’s head coach on Wednesday, he’ll become the 15th person to hold that honor. He’ll also make history as the team’s first Black head coach.
Prior to Friday, the Patriots were one of 13 teams that had yet to hire a Black head coach on a full-time basis.
Mayo told reporters ahead of the Patriots’ regular-season finale that he felt he was qualified to become a head coach, stating his confidence in his ability to connect with all people.
“I feel like I’m prepared. I feel like I’m ready,” Mayo said in early January. “I feel like I can talk to men, women, old, young, white, Black — it doesn’t matter. And hopefully develop those people into upstanding citizens and help them evolve. That’s how I think about it. I feel like my calling is to develop.”
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