New England Patriots new head coach, Jerod Mayo, knows that he has enormous shoes to fill after the departure of longtime Pats head coach and oracle Bill Belichick. However, that’s precisely why he will not provide false hope; he is not chasing Belichick but rebranding Pats football.
“I’m not trying to be Bill,” Mayo said at the press conference announcing his hiring. With age differences of 37 for Mayo and 71 for Belichick, there will be new ideas.
As the Patriot’s first-ever African-American head coach, he also knows the history of New England and how brutal critiques lie at every corner for fans of the storied franchise. Here is how he answered the question of how does he feel becoming the first Black head coach in Patriots history.
Mayo Sees Color
“I do see color because I believe if you don’t see color, you can’t see racism…I want you to be able to go up to those people and understand those people. … Whatever it is, Black, white, yellow, it really doesn’t matter, but it does matter so we can try to fix the problem that we all know we have.”
Mayo is a Pats product through and through, as he was drafted by the Patriots in the first round (10th overall) of the 2008 draft. Mayo played in college at Tennessee from 2005-07 where he appeared in 32 games, recording 236 total tackles. He spent his entire NFL career in New England before retiring following the 2015 season.
A linebacker, Mayo appeared in 103 games during his career, racking up 905 total tackles. He was named captain for seven consecutive seasons (2009-15) and is a 2014 Super Bowl Champion. Mayo made the Pro Bowl after the 2010 and 2012 seasons after leading the league in tackles each season. He led the Patriots in total tackles in each of his first five seasons and became just the second Patriots player to win The Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
After retirement and a stint working in corporate America, he returned to the Patriots to start his next career as an inside linebackers coach in 2019. Since his arrival to the coaching staff, the Patriots have finished in the top 10 in total defense in four of his five seasons, including in each of the last three seasons, according to the team.
“I don’t like echo chambers,” Mayo continued. “I want people around me that are going to question my ideas or question the way we have done things in the past. Because realistically, this league is a lot different than when I was drafted in 2008. That’s why I try to spend so much time developing young men and young women. So they know I don’t want to teach them what to think — I want to teach them how to think.”
Mayo’s fresh perspective might reinvigorate the Pats in the post-Brady era. Indeed, team owner Robert Kraft trusts him, which is essential when your job is to overhaul a franchise.
Since he was already part of the coaching staff on the defense, his relationship with Kraft is personal. “I call him ‘Young Thundercat’ because he has a young heart,” Mayo said.
That is precisely what Kraft hired: a young heart that can make the Pats roar again like a thundercat.
