Jerod Mayo weighs in on his future with the Patriots amid Bill Belichick speculation

Jerod Mayo, the home-grown Patriots star, surely would love to be New England’s next head coach. But he’s in a difficult spot as speculation about Bill Belichick sweeps through Foxboro.

Mayo, the former Tennessee Volunteer co-captain, turned down chances to interview for vacant head coaching jobs in other cities. The 71-year-old Belichick will leave sometime, whether it’s via his own decision or one made by owner Robert Kraft. Results-wise, this is one of Belichick’s worst. But critics may be quieter this week after the Patriots stunned the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.

Reporters caught up with Mayo this week as the Patriots prepare for a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The defending Super Bowl champions are in a salty mood after losing three of their last four games. And Mayo sounded like a prospective head coach who didn’t want to give much away after a reporter asked, specifically, whether he’d be the Patriots next head coach.

“You’ve been here long enough,” Mayo told the reporter. “You already — I bet you can say the answer that I’m about to give you. We’re 100 percent focused on the Chiefs. And you know, I only try to control the controllables and that’s out of my control. Hopefully as you guys all know, one day I want to be a head coach. Where that is, I don’t know. But at the same time, I would say I have a lot of love for New England. I have a lot of love for the fans, the people around the building. And you know, my family, they love it here as well. So that would be great if I could stay here and continue to progress throughout my career, but we’ll see.”

The Patriots hired Belichick 24 years ago to replace Pete Carroll. It was a terrific move for both parts. Belichick, then a defensive coordinator with the Jets, won six Super Bowls. Carroll dabbled in the college game, reviving the Southern California Trojans before moving on to the Seattle Seahawks.

So, are we at another Patriots crossroads? In Mayo, Kraft couldn’t find a more loyal person to the program. After all, the Patriots selected Mayo with the 10th pick of the 2008 NFL Draft. He was so lowkey, that he stayed home and didn’t attend the festivities in NYC. He got word of this draft selection as he was raking leaves. The former Tennessee star was the second linebacker to go in the draft.

Mayo retired from the Patriots after the 2015 season. Belichick hired him as a linebackers coach in 2019. In his NFL career, he’s only played or coached with the Patriots.