Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer January 12, 2024, 8:36 a.m. ET
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- Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter for ESPN covering the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. You can follow Reiss on Twitter at @MikeReiss.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A day after parting ways with legendary coach Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots have selected Jerod Mayo as his successor and the 15th head coach in franchise history, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Mayo, 37, will be formally introduced at a press conference next week. He will be the youngest coach in the NFL, taking over a title held by Sean McVay since he was named coach of the Los Angeles Rams in 2017; Mayo is a month younger than McVay.
Mayo was a linebacker for the Patriots from 2008 to 2015 after being selected in the first round of the draft out of Tennessee. In 2019, Mayo joined Belichick's coaching staff and served as linebackers coach.
The Patriots were able to forego the standard NFL hiring process and hire Mayo immediately because they laid out a succession plan in the contract extension he signed last offseason, similar to what the Baltimore Ravens did with their general manager position when Eric DeCosta did in 2019 succeeded Ozzie Newsome.
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Mayo becomes the first Black head coach in Patriots history.
He had notable support among the players in the locker room, especially on defense. When news of Belichick's departure broke, a defense attorney said in a text message, “I hope they give it to Mayo.” He deserves it.”
Captain Deatrich Wise Jr. cited Mayo as a key reason he felt the defense was successful in a Week 17 loss to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
As a player, Mayo was named team captain in his second season, with some players referring to him as Bill Jr. because they viewed him as a future coach who, like Belichick himself, spent countless hours at the team facility.
The 71-year-old Belichick and the Patriots announced Thursday that he would be leaving the team after 24 seasons as coach, including six Super Bowl titles. The decision to part ways came after meetings between Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft, with Belichick saying it was time to “move on.”
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Mayo spent his entire playing career in New England, where he appeared in 103 games and totaled 905 tackles. He led the team in tackles in each of his first five seasons and became only the second Patriots player to win the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. In 2014, he was part of a Super Bowl championship team that was limited to six games that season due to a leg injury.
After retiring after the 2015 season, Mayo worked in finance for Optum, a healthcare provider. He has cited how that experience, coupled with working under Belichick, led him to one day become a head coach.
“I feel like I’m prepared. I feel like I’m ready,” Mayo said in early January. “I feel like I can talk to men, women, old, young, white, black – it doesn’t matter. And hopefully I can develop these people into upstanding citizens and help them thrive. That's how I think about it. I have the feeling.” My calling is to develop myself further.
Mayo recently shared that building relationships with players is a fundamental part of his coaching style.
“I train for love. Once you build a relationship with a man, you can be tough on the players,” he said. “But when you don't have the warmth before the confidence, it was a bit different when I played. Whatever the coach told you, you just go out and do it. But this generation is a little different. They want to understand the 'why'.”