Patriots officially hire Jerod Mayo as next head coach
Mayo's hiring comes a day after the franchise parted ways with Bill Belichick.
One day after the Patriots said goodbye to their greatest coach in franchise history, they’ve already determined who will replace him.
Jerod Mayo has been hired as the next head coach of the Patriots, the team announced early Friday afternoon. The Patriots’ announcement came a few hours after news broke Friday morning that Mayo would be the next head coach of the team. Mayo will formally be introduced as the team’s head coach at a press conference at noon Wednesday, the team also shared.
Mayo, 37, replaces Bill Belichick, who parted ways with the team after 24 seasons and six Super Bowl titles on Thursday.
The former Patriots linebacker began his coaching career in 2019, joining the Patriots’ staff as their inside linebackers coach. He quickly became a hot commodity in the coaching ranks, interviewing for multiple head coaching jobs within his first couple seasons.
As Mayo was set to interview for head coach and defensive coordinator positions last offseason, the Patriots made a rare announcement that they had extended him, but didn’t share what the new deal included.
After a year of speculation, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported late Thursday that Mayo’s extension included a succession plan for him to become the Patriots’ next head coach. The Patriots notified the NFL at the time of the extension that they had included the succession plan in his contract, potentially allowing them to bypass a thorough hiring process when it came time to replace Belichick.
With Mayo’s contractual succession plan in place, the Patriots didn’t reach out to any other big-name head coaching candidates, including Mike Vrabel, The Athletic‘s Dianna Russini reported. As Belichick also served as the Patriots’ general manager, they will hire someone else to fill that role, Rapoport reported.
At 37, Mayo becomes the league’s youngest head coach. As the 15th head coach in Patriots history, Mayo is also the franchise’s first Black head coach.
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