Bill Belichick’s decorated era in charge of the New England Patriots is lurching toward the end, but the 71-year-old’s “logical successor,” inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, already “feels he’s ready to be a head coach anywhere.”
That’s the word from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, who lists Mayo “among young NFL coaches to watch” ahead of the next hiring cycle. Pelissero noted how Mayo’s “pedigree and makeup are intriguing.”
The reporter also detailed how the former middle linebacker for the Patriots “is highly regarded by Pats owner Robert Kraft.” That high regard may have convinced Mayo to stay put when he “had three head coaching interviews and turned down another with the Panthers last January, opting to stay with New England on a new contract that the Patriots announced in a rare press release.”
There’s growing buzz for Mayo at a time when Belichick’s flaws are being magnified during a difficult transition to life without Tom Brady for the Pats. Belichick’s team is languishing at 2-8 at the bottom of the AFC East, with rumors abound the six-time Super Bowl winner will be out of the job after this season, if not before.
Jerod Mayo Already Has Robert Kraft’s Endorsement
Kraft could not have been clearer about Mayo’s prospects when asked at the owners meeting back in March, per NBC Sports Boston’s Patriots Coverage: “There’s no ceiling on his ability to be a head coach, and he’ll be a head coach, and, I’m sure of that. I hope, you know, he’s with us, so we’ll see what happens.
Mayo may be the natural bridge candidate to ease the transition from Belichick, who’s been at the helm for a nearly a quarter of a century. He coached Mayo for eight of those years, so the 37-year-old has firsthand knowledge of the inner workings of the franchise.
A signal-caller for Belichick’s hybrid defenses made Mayo a coach on the field. He was also “basically a head coach, according to Belichick, when he was in the locker room,” per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
From The Insiders on #NFLPlus: To go with @TomPelissero‘s young coaching candidates article (t.co/D4nZ7bJ3jp), I focused on #Patriots assistant Jerod Mayo.
However, Rapoport also sounded a note of caution: “There is also another possibility, if it’s not immediate, that another teams steps in and says, ‘I want an elite leader, this is my guy.’
The threat of losing Mayo could prompt Kraft and the Patriots to accelerate the Belichick succession plan. That’s provided ownership is confident Mayo won’t fall victim to the curse of the Belichick coaching tree.
His assistants have posted a combined record of 291-306-2 in top jobs, per Chad Graff of The Athletic. Looking beyond those numbers and trusting Mayo to buck the trend would take a considerable leap of faith from the Patriots.
It may be a gamble Kraft is willing to take given how much Belichick has struggled in recent seasons.
Bill Belichick, Patriots Destined for Split
Belichick’s post-Brady decline is becoming depressingly familiar. He’s on track for three losing seasons out of four since arguably the greatest quarterback ever joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.
There’s also the inconvenient truth of Belichick posting just three winning seasons (two playoff campaigns) without Brady as his QB out of 29 as a head coach. Numbers like these explain why some believe the Pats and their longstanding coach will agree to part ways once this season is in the books.
Belichick may not even have the luxury of deciding his own fate if the 2023 Patriots continue to flounder. There have been questionable personnel decisions, including those that have led to the brewing quarterback controversy between Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe.
Those decisions have been matched by as many suspect, in-game calls. Like not fielding a punt returner when the Indianapolis Colts were kicking from deep in Week 10, per Yardbarker’s Pierce Downey.
This play alone should get Bill Belichick fired.
No punt returner while the Colts are kicking from their own 15 allows for a 70 yard punt.
Such an unserious football team.
The kind of out-of-the-box thinking that once made Belichick revered while the Patriots were winning on the strength of Brady’s arm, is putting the coach’s job in jeopardy. As ESPN’s Bill Barnwell phrased it, “making dramatic decisions about who he’s going to play, being gruff about it with the media and instilling a culture of mistake-free football is great if it works.”
Unfortunately, the Belichick way isn’t working anymore, “and now that he’s no longer the best — now that his teams are terrible — he has no constituency left,” according to Will Leitch of the New York Intelligencer.
The Patriots need a rebuild, but it’s more likely to succeed without Belichick, even if one of his proteges takes the reins.
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Patriots News: Bill Belichick’s ‘Logical Successor’ Ready to Coach ‘Anywhere’