Sources – Jerod Mayo to replace Belichick as Patriots coach،
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – A day after parting ways with legendary coach Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots have selected Jerod Mayo as his successor and the 15th head coach in franchise history, sources tell Adam Schefter d 'ESPN.
Mayo, 37, will be formally introduced at a press conference next week. He will be the youngest coach in the NFL, taking over a title that Sean McVay held since he was named coach of the Los Angeles Rams in 2017; Mayo is a month younger than McVay.
A linebacker for the Patriots from 2008 to 2015 after being selected in the first round of the draft out of Tennessee, Mayo joined Belichick's coaching staff in 2019, serving as linebackers coach.
The Patriots were able to forgo the standard NFL hiring process and immediately hire Mayo because they established a succession plan in the contract extension he signed last offseason, similar to what the Baltimore Ravens made with their position as general manager when Eric DeCosta took over from Ozzie Newsome in 2019.
Mayo becomes the first black head coach in Patriots history.
He had notable support among the players in the locker room, especially on defense. When news of Belichick's departure broke, one defender said in a text: “I hope they give him to Mayo. He deserves it.”
Captain Deatrich Wise Jr. credited Mayo as the main reason he thought the defense had success against Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen in a Week 17 loss.
As a player, Mayo was named team captain in his second season, with some players calling him Bill Jr. because they viewed him as a future coach who spent countless hours in the clubhouse. team, like Belichick himself.
Belichick, 71, and the Patriots announced Thursday that he would leave the team after 24 seasons as coach, including six Super Bowl titles. The decision to part ways came after meetings between Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft, with Belichick saying it was time to “move on.”
Mayo spent his entire playing career in New England, appearing in 103 games and totaling 905 tackles. He led the team in tackles in each of his first five seasons and became the second Patriots player to win the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year award. He was part of a Super Bowl championship team in 2014, although limited to six games that season due to a leg injury.
Upon retiring after the 2015 season, Mayo worked in finance for Optum, a healthcare services provider. He cited how that experience, coupled with working under Belichick, led him to one day become a head coach.
“I feel like I'm ready. I feel like I'm ready,” Mayo said in early January. “I feel like I can talk to men, to women, to old people, to young people, to white people, to black people – it doesn't matter. And I hope these people become upstanding citizens and help them develop. That's how I think. I feel like my vocation is to develop.
Mayo recently shared that building relationships with players is a fundamental part of his coaching style.
“I coach for love. Once you build a relationship with a guy, you can be tough on players,” he said. “But if you don't have that heat before the confidence, it was a little different when I was playing. Whatever coach tells you to do, you go out and do it. But this generation is a little different. They want understand the “why”.
