Jerod Mayo Hired as Patriots' Next Head Coach
In 24 hours, the New England Patriots went from letting go of their six-time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Belichick to naming his successor. Former Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo has been named the next head coach of the Patriots, the 15th in franchise history, and now he’s officially the youngest head coach in the NFL, taking that title from Rams head coach Sean McVay, which Mayo is a month younger than McVay. Jerod played with the Patriots from 2008 to 2015 before becoming New England’s linebacker coach in 2019. Now, he has become the Patriots' first Black head coach, with many players, especially from New England’s defense giving notable support for Mayo.
During his playing days, he was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2008, and a year later he was named team captain. Mayo earned two Pro Bowl nods in 2010, and 2012. In 2010, Jerod was the NFL’s tackle leader and was named first-team All-Pro. Although he only played in six games that season, Jerod would be a big part in helping New England reach Super Bowl XLIX, where they eventually defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24, to earn the franchise's fourth Super Bowl title. His best statistical season had to be in 2010. In 16 games played, Jerod combined for 174 tackles. 113 were solo tackles, while 61 were assisted. Mayo tackled for a loss of yardage five times while having two sacks.
In early January Jerod Mayo said, "I feel like I'm prepared. I feel like I'm ready. 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. I coach out of love. Once you build that relationship with a guy, you can be tough on the players, 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.'"
