New England Patriots hire longtime assistant, former player Jerod Mayo as new head coach

The New England Patriots have found their man. Patriots assistant and former defensive star Jerod Mayo will follow legendary head coach Bill Belichick’s 24-year tenure. The team will formally introduce Mayo as the head coach at a press conference next week, Adam Schefter reports.

The New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick decided to part ways after 24 seasons on Thursday.

Jerod Mayo is 37 years old and has been an assistant under Belichick since 2019, coaching the team’s linebackers. Prior to that, he spent his entire playing career with the Patriots after New England took him No. 10 overall in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft out of Tennessee. With the Volunteers, he was a first-team All-SEC linebacker and a second-team All-American.

As a player, Mayo was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2008. He was also a two-time Pro Bowl selection and was an All Pro selection in 2010. On top of that, Mayo was also a Super Bowl Champion with the Patriots. New England beat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX to end the 2014 season. He played eight seasons in the NFL, amassing 803 career tackles. His final season in the league was in 2015. It was a bounce-back season after he suffered injuries in 2013 and 2014.

Attempting to replicate Bill Belichick’s success with 266 games and six Super Bowls in New England will be nearly impossible but Mayo is one of the few who know what it takes to do it. According to Dan Graziano, there was a “sense” that Mayo was the key to the team’s succession plan leading up to Belichick’s departure.

Mayo lands dream job

Last week, reporters asked Mayo about his future. He hinted that he would love to become the head coach of the Patriots, at least one day. That day is today.

“Hopefully as you guys all know, one day I want to be a head coach,” Mayo said. “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.”

Prior to landing the job with his former team, Mayo was a candidate for head coaching jobs during the 2022 cycle. He interviewed with the Raiders and was reportedly going to interview with the Panthers this offseason.