Why Patriots’ Jerod Mayo expects biggest growth as head coach to happen after this year
"My expectation for me personally as a head coach is to make the biggest jump from Year 1 to Year 2."
The Bengals’ decision to go for two points to try and take the lead after scoring a touchdown in the final minute of their 35-34 loss to the Ravens on Thursday led to Jerod Mayo discussing about his growth as a coach.
Mayo was presented with a similar dilemma last week. He opted to kick the game-tying point-after attempt instead of going for two points to possibly win the game after Drake Maye threw a touchdown pass against the Titans. Of course, Tennessee went on to win the game in overtime.
When Mayo was asked about the two-point debate at the end of games during his press conference on Friday, he interjected so share he expectations he has him for himself after the 2024 season.
“We should do an off-season project together,” Mayo initially said, jokingly. “In all seriousness, look, just like a player, you expect players – they make their biggest jump from Year 1 to Year 2. My expectation for me personally as a head coach is to make the biggest jump from Year 1 to Year 2, and that’s through doing those deep dives when you actually have time to do them.”
Mayo has had a bumpy ride in his first season as the Patriots’ head coach. New England has gone 2-7 through their first nine games, with many of Mayo’s in-game decisions being questioned, such as an indecisive approach to the end of first halves in a few games this season.
Additionally, Mayo has also made comments that have likely made his job a bit tougher. He said that Maye had outplayed Jacoby Brissett in the preseason before naming Brissett the team’s starting quarterback to enter the regular season. He also called his team soft following the Patriots’ Week 7 loss to the Jaguars, which prompted criticism from many outsiders.
As the season’s gone on, Mayo said that he’s filed things away to reflect on when the season ends.
“You can start with X’s and O’s. You can then go to situational football. You can also go to structure and culture,” Mayo said on the things he could learn from. “Do I think I’ve done things right? Absolutely. Are there ways to improve? A thousand percent. Do I wish I would have done certain things differently? Yeah.
“But those are things that when you get a chance, you get time to reflect. I’m going to go somewhere where no one can find me, just by myself, no kids, no nothing and just reflect on the season. I think it’s important not only for football players, for anyone to take those times to reflect and see what you can do better.”
There were some questions following the Patriots’ loss to the Titans on whether it was Mayo’s call to kick the point-after attempt instead of going for two points. He told reporters after the game that he didn’t want to discuss the team’s decision to settle for the extra point and play for overtime.
Mayo wanted to make it clear, though, that all extra-point decisions are his call.
“That’s 100 percent my decision,” Mayo said on Friday.
As for whether he agreed on the Bengals’ decision to go for two points at the end of Thursday’s game, Mayo noted that there are many factors that go into making that decision.
“It’s funny man. It’s very interesting. You’re always going to have people on either side, and I understand it,” Mayo said. “If it works, you’re a genius. If it doesn’t work, then you leave yourself open to criticism. It’s part of it. But again, there are so many factors that go into it. Whether you’re talking about analytics – alright, but analytics doesn’t take into account other things. What’s the weather? How’s the game flow going? What are the matchups? There are so many different things.
“It’s easy to second-guess it, but it’s interesting. It is interesting.”
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