The New England Patriots dynasty took a hit five years ago with Tom Brady leaving the franchise. Patriot’s head coach Bill Belichick continued to coach the team after the star’s exit for another 5 seasons. After a less-than-perfect season with a record of 4-13, Belichick announced that he would be parting ways with the Patriots organization after 24 seasons. During his coaching time, Belichick won 6 Super Bowls and 11 AFC Championship wins. This was by numbers, the most successful coaching
career in the history of the NFL. Owner of the Patriots, Robert Kraft, announced recently that they had appointed a new head coach, Jerod Mayo.
Born February 23, 1986, Mayo has been with the Patriots organization since 2008, and only started his coaching career in 2019, primarily coaching the linebackers until 2023, then after the 2023-24 season, he was called up to head coach in the offseason. Mayo is the 15th-appointed coach in franchise history. He hails from Hampton, Virginia, and attended college at the University of Tennessee. In Tennessee, he played from 2005-07 before entering the draft. At Tennessee he had 32 games and achieved 236 tackles. Originally he was a player for the Patriots, drafted as a first-round pick, tenth overall, in 2008. He spent his career with the Patriots for the following eight seasons. He was a star linebacker for the team, racking up 905 tackles throughout 103 career games, with seven seasons appointed as a captain. Mayo was the second Pats player to earn the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year. In 2010, he was on the All-Pros honors first team as well as he made the Pro Bowl for the 2010 and 2012 seasons.
Before joining the Patriots, Jerod worked for Optum, a finance group, as a VP for business development from 2016-19, but after working at Optum, he started his coaching career for the linebackers. The Patriots defense has been a top 10 defense in 4 of his 5 seasons Mayo has been on the coaching staff. His team dominated with a #1 defense in 2019 and star linebacker Dont’a Hightower earning his second Pro Bowl.
Players are excited for a new head coach with a fresh method and approach to the team’s functionality. Fans are also excited for the most part for this change as many want to see another successful dynasty rise. Many fans are sad to see Belichick leave after such a successful coaching career.
As for the Patriot’s future, Mayo says he plans to “burn some cash.” (CBS Sports). $66 million exactly, during their offseason while rebuilding the roster this season after a difficult and disappointing 2023 season. He plans to fill some importants slots while fans continue to question Mac Jones’ competency. The Patriots have stated that there is a need new receivers to keep up with other top teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.
