Well, that was really quick. Just a day after moving on from the arguable greatest coach in NFL history, the Patriots have already found their new head coach in linebacker coach Jerod Mayo.
I’m not going to cast aspersion or praise just yet…but this was a bit of a quick hiring.
Even though the Patriots have spent the last 24 years under Bill Belichick’s legendary reign, Robert Kraft and the Patriots front office took less than 24 hours to make their search for a new head coach official as they have hired former linebacker and current linebacker coach Jerod Mayo as their new HC. And, like I said, I’m really indifferent about the move…though I do think it was a little quickly done.
So, I guess Robert Kraft must REALLY like Jerod Mayo as he just replaced the greatest coach in NFL history (according to many) with a guy who’s never served as head coach at the professional level in under 24 hours.
Okay, for those who haven’t seen the news, the New England Patriots have just promoted their linebacker coach Jerod Mayo to be the successor to Bill Belichick as the new Patriots head coach. Yeah, the very same Bill Belichick who won 6 Super Bowls, 9 AFC titles, 17 division titles, and over 300 games as a head coach of the Patriots…and who got let go from his post yesterday.
Now, I’m not saying Jerod Mayo is unfit for the job or even that he’s the next Belichick or George Halas as I just really don’t know.
Obviously, Jerod Mayo was a sensational linebacker for the Patriots who made 2 Pro Bowls, 1 All-Pro team (1st Team All-Pro in 2010), won the 2008 Defensive Rookie of the Year award, was a part of 2 AFC title-winning defenses (2012, 2014), a part of the team that won Super Bowl XLIX over the Seahawks (2014), and personally accumulated over 800 tackles, 30 TFL, 28 QB hits, 11 sacks, and 19 PD in just 8 years as a pro (all for the Pats), but his coaching record is not nearly as prestigious as his playing career.
He’s only ever held the linebacker coach title with the Patriots at the professional level, and he’s been an assistant coach on the worst half decade of Pats teams since before the millennium began! Since joining as the linebacker coach in 2019, the Patriots went 12-4 in 2019 but lost in the Wild Card game against the Titans in what was Tom Brady’s final game as a Patriot, 7-9 in 2020, 10-7 in 2021…where the Pats got smoked by 40 points to the Bills in Wild Card round, 8-9 in 2022, and now 4-13 in 2023.
However, in Mayo’s defense, the Patriots defense never finished outside the Top-15 in either Total Yards Against/GM or Total Points Against/GM in anyone of those seasons, while the Pats defense actually finished in the Top-10 in the NFL in Total Yards Against/GM 4 times and in the Top-11 4 times in Total Points Against/GM during this rut in form.
And, as everyone knows, linebackers play a huge part in managing the defense and ensuring the middle of the field is protected, so that’s a point in Mayo’s favor in my opinion.
Anyway, the real issue I have with this hiring is not that the Patriots hired Mayo (because he has essentially a clean slate and no coaching baggage from another job), or that they didn’t go with the more proven Mike Vrabel (who I would have chosen), but rather that they made this choice so QUICKLY.
I don’t even know if Belichick had enough time to pack all of his stuff from his office at One Patriots’ Place before Robert Kraft gave Mayo the head job.
I mean, I know that Mayo was designed as the successor to Belichick last offseason, but that move happened BEFORE Vrabel was fired by the Titans, Jim Harbaugh won a National Championship with Michigan, Ben Johnson cooked up one of the best offenses in Detroit, or Dan Quinn led yet another great season as the DC of the Dallas defense.
I’m not saying anyone of these guys should have been hired over Mayo, but I would have liked to see the Patriots take a little more time in viewing the coaching landscape and not COMPLETELY IGNORE EVERY OTHER COACHING OPTION (yeah, the Pats didn’t even talk to another coach before hiring Mayo).
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