Report: Patriots working on extension of linebackers coach Jerod Mayo for 2023 season

The New England Patriots are working on locking up one of the most coveted assistants in the National Football League, the franchise announced in a press release on Thursday evening. Former Tennessee star Jerod Mayo is working on finalizing an extension with the franchise for the 2023 season, multiple reports have confirmed.

Check out the press release posted from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Unprecedented: The #Patriots announce they are working toward keeping Jerod Mayo and that team will begin OC interviews next week. pic.twitter.com/1RoSjFoSk3

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 13, 2023

In the release, it reads, “The New England Patriots and Head Coach Bill Belichick have begun contract extension discussions with Jerod Mayo that would keep him with the team long-term.”

The Patriots also announced that they will begin interviewing offensive coordinator candidates next week, something they should have done before the start of the 2022 season. It remains one of the more puzzling moves of Bill Belichick’s coaching career as to why he did not hire an official offensive coordinator for the 2022-2023 season.

Mayo interviewed at a number of different stops across the NFL during the 2022 offseason, including for the head coaching position with the Las Vegas Raiders. He was also reportedly going to interview for the Carolina Panthers’ head coaching position in the 2023 offseason, but that was before the Patriots announced they were working on locking him up on Thursday evening. He’ll likely be a head coach in the National Football League sometime soon, but for now, he should remain an assistant with New England.

Jerod Mayo turned into a dominant star with the Tennessee Vols

Mayo played for Tennessee from 2004 until 2007 in his playing days. An outside linebacker, he redshirted in 2004, before appearing in six games in 2005 and finishing with 13 tackles (10 solo stops). As a redshirt sophomore in 2006, Mayo finally cracked the starting lineup, starting 11 games and finishing third on the team with 83 tackles (48 solo stops), including five sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss, and a fumble recovery. He once again turned in an improved performance the following season, moving to inside linebacker and starting all 14 games. He tallied 140 tackles in 2007, the most by a Tennessee defender since Earnest Fields in 1990, adding 1.5 sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss, five quarterback pressures, and a pick-six. He was named a first-team All-SEC linebacker and a second-team All-American.

Mayo was selected in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft, as the New England Patriots took his name off the board with the 10th-overall pick. He played eight seasons in the NFL, amassing 803 career tackles, and was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2008, a first team All-Pro in 2010, and a two-time Pro Bowl selection. Mayo also won a Super Bowl with the Patriots.

Simon Gibbs also contributed to this article.