Jerod Mayo promoted as Patriots coach to succeed Bill Belichick
The New England Patriots moved quickly to replace Bill Belichick as their coach by using the succession plan written into the contract of their linebackers coach, Jerod Mayo.
The Patriots announced Friday that they had promoted Mayo, their de facto defensive coordinator, to coach. They became the first of the eight NFL teams searching for a new coach to fill its vacancy. The Patriots said they will formally introduce Mayo at a news conference Wednesday in Foxborough, Mass.
Mayo’s contract as an assistant coach contained the succession clause and was filed with the NFL and accepted, according to two people familiar with the matter, meaning the league in effect already had approved the Patriots’ succession plan. That meant the Patriots did not have to conduct any interviews to comply with the NFL’s minority hiring requirements, according to those people.
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It was not immediately clear how binding the contract was or what would have resulted had the Patriots not chosen Mayo as Belichick’s successor.
Belichick left the team Thursday after 24 seasons and six Super Bowl victories. He and Patriots owner Robert Kraft described the move as a mutual parting. Kraft said he decided against attempting to receive draft-pick compensation from another NFL team interested in hiring Belichick, who reportedly was under contract to the Patriots through next season, in what would have amounted to a trade. Kraft said he felt Belichick had earned the right to leave the organization without being encumbered that way.
Mayo, 37, becomes the NFL’s youngest head coach. A first-round draft pick out of Tennessee, he was a two-time Pro Bowl selection as a linebacker for the Patriots from 2008 to 2015, winning one Super Bowl title. He joined Belichick’s coaching staff in 2019.
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Asked during a news conference Thursday afternoon what qualities he would seek in a new coach, Kraft said: “We’re looking for someone who can help us get back to the playoffs and win. … I am very upset when we don’t win games.”
Mayo said during a news conference last week that he felt qualified to be an NFL head coach.
“I feel like I’m prepared,” Mayo said then. “I feel like I’m ready. I feel I can talk to men, women, old, young, White, Black — it doesn’t matter — and hopefully develop those people into just upstanding citizens and help them evolve. So that’s kind of how I think about it: I feel like my calling is to develop. … And so I look forward to the opportunity, wherever that may be.”
The Patriots are expected to hire a general manager in the coming weeks. Kraft said Thursday the Patriots would move “very quickly” to determine the structure of their football operations and the division of authority between the coach and a new GM. Belichick possessed final say over roster construction.
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Under NFL rules, the minority interviewing requirements do not apply when there is a contractual succession plan in place. Previous occurrences included the Seattle Seahawks with Jim Mora Jr. (succeeding Mike Holmgren as coach), the Indianapolis Colts with Jim Caldwell (succeeding Tony Dungy as coach) and the Baltimore Ravens with Eric DeCosta (succeeding Ozzie Newsome as general manager).
Normally, any NFL team with a head coaching vacancy must conduct in-person interviews with at least two minority candidates from outside the organization. Under a change enacted for this hiring cycle, in-person interviews for head coaching jobs with candidates from other teams cannot occur until after the divisional round of the NFL playoffs; virtual interviews can begin sooner.
The NFL and team owners made that modification to attempt to slow down the hiring process. The change applies to all candidates, but the league and owners expressed the hope that a more deliberate interviewing process could be more inclusive and benefit minority head coaching candidates in particular. The Las Vegas Raiders would have to comply with the minority interviewing requirements even if they opt to retain their interim coach, Antonio Pierce, who is Black.
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But the Patriots were able to move more quickly by promoting Mayo, given the succession plan in his contract.
Mayo becomes the first Black head coach in Patriots history. His promotion provides an early boost to the NFL’s minority hiring efforts. League leaders had said they hope for better diversity results during this hiring cycle for head coaches. Last offseason, only one Black head coach was hired among the five chosen by NFL teams, DeMeco Ryans of the Houston Texans. Ryans coached the Texans to the AFC South title this season.
The NFL had three Black head coaches for much of this season: Ryans, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Todd Bowles. The promotion of Pierce to serve as the Raiders’ interim coach following the firing of Josh McDaniels in November increased that number to four.
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The league also had three other minority head coaches this season: the Washington Commanders’ Ron Rivera, the New York Jets’ Robert Saleh and the Miami Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel, who identifies as biracial. The Commanders fired Rivera on Monday.
Mayo will attempt to return the Patriots to contender status following a 4-13 season. They have reached the playoffs only once in four seasons since quarterback Tom Brady left via free agency following the 2019 season.
Mike Vrabel, a former Patriots linebacker who was fired Tuesday as coach of the Tennessee Titans, and Brian Flores, a former Patriots assistant coach who is the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, also had been mentioned as prospective coaching candidates for the Patriots. Flores, formerly the coach of the Dolphins, filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL and teams in February 2022.
The Raiders, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, Commanders, Titans and Seahawks continue to search for new coaches.
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