Image courtesy of Chauxtalk/YouTube

In another sign of changing times in Foxborough, head coach Jerod Mayo recently appeared on Davon Godchaux’s podcast called ‘Chauxtalk.’

Here’s a recap of what Mayo had to say in response to questions from Godchaux. The podcast is centered around football, fashion and player financial advice. This was episode 16 of the show and  dropped on YouTube Wednesday:

On what it’s like to be the first black head coach (and 15th HC overall) in Patriots history

“It’s been great. The first couple weeks were…there was a lot going on. It was was like drinking from a fire hydrant. But, over the last, I would say couple of months, it’s been going the way I thought it would. Now, in saying that, I have a lot to learn and each week is its own week and that’s my focus going forward.”

On the transition from position coach to head coach and if he feels like he has to earn the trust of the locker room every week

“Honestly, what I try to do is take the culture that you (Davon) were a part of defensively and really, spread that amongst the rest of the team and the organization. Even defensively last year, we had offensive players coming in our meetings sometimes. I think with this generation of players, it’s first showing the individual players you care about their growth and development before anything else. You know, we’re all competent as coaches as far as X’s and O’s are concerned, but we’ve all had coaches we’d run through a brick wall for and we’ve also had those coaches where it’s like ‘oh, forget that,’ so, that’s always the balance. When you talk about trying to change the culture, it takes time. Really, your culture becomes what you reward. Even having you (Davon) back, it’s been great and I think the guys see that. Just like signing Big Mike (Onwenu) back, Dugger, Peppers, all those guys that do it the right way. You talk about building a culture, I think that’s part of it.”

On what his game day attire (‘drip’ as Godchaux put it) will be on game days

“Even being a position coach, I’ve always been a huge Nike, Jordan guy. So, it’s foamposite’s or it’s Jordan’s…back in 2008 I was a Nike athlete, so I was buying shoes for today. You think about it…I retired in 2015, I was like ‘I gotta use all this money up,’ because if you don’t you lose it. I’m still kind of opening some of those boxes, but it’s been great. I’m definitely Top 5 (amongst best dressed coaches) though, I’ll be honest with you…absolutely (believe I’ll be a Top 5 head coach in swag), without a doubt. You heard it here first.”

On when he’d recommend young players get into investing

“I think you do have to get into investing at an early stage. In saying that, how active you are is…each individual has their own flavor for that. I will say, during the season it’s all about football. Even now for me during the season it’s all about football. The offseason, that’s the time where, instead of going home and playing Playstation or Xbox, you go out and really try to make these relationships. Whether it’s in business or real estate, whatever it is, I always tell the guys ‘take advice from people that you would switch places with right now.’ You got guys on the street trying to tell you what you should invest your money in here and there, it’s just not smart. What I would also say is, most of the time – and I saw this early on in my career – where guys wouldn’t really get into that next step until after they retire. Now, I encourage you guys…during the summertime while your name still rings bells, try to open up those doors right now. Once you’re done, you’ve already established those relationships. To me, that’s always a huge piece of it. People can say ‘this guy’s the smartest in the world, this guy’s that.’ Look, it’s about relationships. It’s about connecting people and providing value for that person and that person in return providing value for you. It is mainly about relationships and so when you talk about early stage deals, look, they’re hard to get into, but once again, if you have a relationship with people that have access…that’s the hardest thing, is the access to these types of deals, then you’ll be set.”

On what he sees himself doing after football

“For me, my North Star has always been developing people and challenging myself. So, played football, all that stuff. I felt like we did a good job with the next wave, The Hightower’s of the world and all those guys. Then, I went and worked for United Health Group and Optum and all that stuff. That was more just to challenge myself and also see what principles I could learn in business that I can apply to coaching. You have to put yourself in uncomfortable situations because if you don’t, you’ll be the same. You’ll never grow. It’s very easy for people to say ‘I’m not gonna do that. I got money in the bank. I don’t need to do that,’ but, I’m just telling you, you’ve got to challenge yourself on a day-to-day basis. This is why I was talking about the cold showers in the morning (off air), it’s not that I like cold showers, it’s…for me, naturally as humans, our minds are always going to take us on the path of least resistance. For me, waking up in the morning, having to make the choice to be uncomfortable first thing in the morning, that carries over into the rest of my day. That’s why I encourage you guys to do the same.”

On 15 black quarterbacks starting Week 1 and thoughts on the evolution at the position from his playing days

“It definitely shows growth. What I would say is, the game has changed with extended plays. So, however you want to say it, black, white quarterback, it’s ‘are you a dual threat?’ I’m not talking about Michael Vick-type running down the field, I’m talking about just extending plays. If you have that skill set, to me, that’s the most important thing. It’s definitely encouraging seeing other quarterbacks getting opportunities. It doesn’t start here in the league, it starts at a younger age and you’re starting to see that creep into our world.”

You can see the nine minute episode here.