The New England Patriots season ended not as the organisation expected and they have also parted ways with the long-standing former head coach Bill Belichick. The former head coach had won six Super Bowls with the Patriots squad and was with them from 2000-2023.
The new head coach has been announced by the owner, Robert Kraft, and it is Jerod Mayo. In the history of the Patriots, Mayo has become the fifteenth head coach and regarding Belichick’s legacy with the Patriots, he has mentioned, "I’m not trying to be Bill". Mayo has also shared that he is honoured by the opportunity that he has been presented with.
It also appears that the new head coach seems to enjoy himself and is clear in his opinions with a coherent personality. According to The Boston Globe, Mayo had shared, "I appreciate that the organization selected me to be a Black head coach. You want your locker room to be pretty diverse and you want the world to live like that.
"I do see color, because I believe if you don’t see color you can’t see racism."
Jerod Mayo on being named the first black head coach in Patriots history. pic.twitter.com/toTTJ6CrB3
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 17, 2024
"What I will say though, is I do see color, because I believe if you don’t see color, you can’t see racism. And whatever happens black, white, someone with disabilities. … I want you to be able to go up to those people, really understand those people. So it goes back to, 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."
"I do see color, because I believe if you don’t see color you can’t see racism."
Jerod Mayo was selected by the New England Patriots in the 2008 NFL Draft in the first round as the 10th overall pick. He spent his entire playing career with the Patriots, from 2008 to 2015. He had played college football at the University of Tennessee. During his active career, he played 103 games and collected 905 tackles, as per the official site of the Patriots.
In 2008, he was also named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and won the Super Bowl XLIX title with the team. He also headed the team for seven seasons. After two years, he also received the Associated Press first-team All-Pro honours.
In Mayo’s initial five seasons as a linebacker, he led the Patriots in having the most tackles. He also became the second player in the history of the franchise to earn the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year honour. In 2010, he was also the NFL leader in tackles.
After retiring from his active career, Mayo joined Optum as a vice president of business development. Mayo advanced in his career and became a successful business executive. He also worked on consumer solutions for clients and consulted on acquisitions and mergers.
He worked at Optum from 2016 to 2019 and then once again joined the New England Patriots as the inside linebackers coach. He held this position from 2019 to 2023 and has now been promoted to the position of head coach. The Patriots" total defense had been among the top ten when Mayo came on board. They achieved that spot impressively for four seasons.
A new era in New England.
Congratulations, Head Coach Jerod Mayo! pic.twitter.com/Aj87oTu2S2
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 12, 2024
"We got someone very special."
Robert Kraft on Jerod Mayo’s leadership skills. pic.twitter.com/pXUP26GZef
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 17, 2024
The owner, Robert Kraft, also shared about the pivotal change the Patriots have undergone as they have found their new light in Mayo. He said, "This is a day we want to celebrate Jerod taking this position. We have a a lot of people internally that have had a chance to learn and grow under the greatest coach of all time, whose football intellect is very special."
"So in the short term, we’re looking for collaboration as our team has a tremendous opportunity to position itself right. Given our salary cap space, we’ve never drafted in my 30 years of ownership, we’ve never been drafting as low as we’re drafting. So we’re counting on our internal people, whom we’re still learning [about] and evaluating, so we’re going to let that evolve and development, and before the key decisions have to be made, we will appoint someone."
