Patriots name Jerod Mayo head coach

Posted By on January 12, 2024


Mary Schwalm/Associated Press

Boy, that did not take long. The Patriots are naming Jerod Mayo the franchise’s 15th head coach. The hiring was reported this morning by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The 37 year old Mayo becomes the youngest coach in the NFL.

Mayo was drafted by the Patriots with the 10th overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. He played eight seasons with the team from 2008 to 2015. He was recruited by Bill Belichick to join his staff in 2019 and hired as the team’s inside linebackers coach.

It did not take Mayo long to make a favorable impression with the coaches, players, staff and ownership. The Kraft family identified Mayo as someone that had a potentially bright future as a head coach. Mayo interviewed with both the Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals after the 2021 season. Ultimately, he chose to stay in New England and last off-season, he was awarded with a new contract that stipulated he would be the successor to Bill Belichick.

The Patriots were able to bypass the standard NFL hiring process and hire Mayo because they established a succession plan in his contract extension last year.  It is similar to what the Baltimore Ravens did with their general manager position when they hired Eric DeCosta to succeed Ozzie Newsome in 2019.

Now Mayo gets to succeed the coach who drafted him in New England. Those are big shoes to fill but Mayo believes he is ready.

“I feel like I’m prepared. I feel like I’m ready,” Mayo said in early January. “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.”

Mayo becomes the first black coach in Patriots history. The team is planning on introducing him at a press conference next week.