FOXBOROUGH — Jerod Mayo was all smiles at his introductory press conference at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday. 

He said the opportunity to become the first Black head coach in Patriotshistory was a dream come true. He laughed it off when team ownerRobert Kraft mispronounced one of his relative’s names. He approached questions with a mix of humor, slang, and lengthy answers. 

Mayo’s hiring had been planned out by the Patriots’ ownership long before Bill Belichick’s departure last week. New England reportedly had a succession plan written into Mayo’s previous contract, allowing them to avoid a lengthy coaching search.

For years now, team owner Robert Kraft has been confident that Mayo is the right man to succeed Bill Belichick. Now, the hire has officially been made, and Belichick’s giant shoes are left for Mayo to fill. 

Here are five takeaways from Mayo’s first press conference as Patriots head coach. 

Why the Patriots stuck with the succession plan

Mayo had a clause written into his contract detailing the plan for him to succeed Belichick, according to Ian Rapport of NFL Media.

The Patriots had the plan cleared with the league office, allowing them to hire Mayo within days of moving on from Belichick. 

A reporter asked Kraft why the Patriots named Mayo head coach instead of conducting a search. 

 “Yeah, that’s a good question,” Kraft said. “In all our companies, early on when we started doing well, people tried to get us to go public and bring in partners and we could make all kinds of money and everything. 

“I made a decision I always wanted to stay private and didn’t want partners who would weigh in, because our family, it’s a family group of business.” Kraft added. “We like to think strategically what’s best for the long-term, not have to do things that are going to require quick decisions. We’re willing to do things that are unorthodox. It’s worked out pretty well for us over the last 50 years.”

The Kraft family’s relationship with Mayo goes back 15 years; the Patriots drafted Mayo, developed him as a player, and hired him as an assistant coach. There has been plenty of time to observe his leadership skills and football acumen. 

“I believe coaching was always his destiny,” Kraft said. “His credentials garner respect, and he relates beautifully to the players. He has been on the coaching staff now for five seasons, and each year his role has grown on the defense, which has now been ranked in the top 10 in the league in the four seasons he has coached them. His dedication, strategic acumen, and ability to inspire players have been evident.”

Robert Kraft’s plan for personnel decisions

For the first time in many years, the Patriots have to decide who will handle personnel decisions. 

Kraft said he’s looking for a collaborative approach. 

He wants to see which people who are already in the front office would be a good fit to remain with the team before proceeding with interviews of outside candidates. 

“This is the first time in a quarter of a century we had to make major changes,” Kraft said. “And we want to see what we have in-house, look what’s out there in the marketplace, and then do what we think is right.

“I know people have ideas, but I can just assure you, any decision we make at this time will be to try to give the support to Jerod and put the organization in the best position it can to win games. We don’t have a fixed formula… We know what’s worked for us in the past, and that’s what we’re going to do here in the future.”

The latest on the offensive coordinator search

The Patriots tied with Carolina for the lowest-scoring offense in the NFL last season. 

Mayo has reportedly begun interviews for a defensive coordinator and a special teams coach. Bill O’Brien, the team’s current offensive coordinator, is still under contract according to The Boston Globe.

Will Mayo open a search for an offensive coordinator?

“Everything is still under consideration,” he said on Wednesday. “Obviously, the staff that I’ve been working with isn’t the staff that I have chosen, but everything is under evaluation.”

Mayo said he is reviewing all the positions on the staff, including offensive coordinator. 

“To me, whether we’re talking offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, all that stuff is under eval,” he said. “And my number one thing is I want to bring in developers.”

Jonathan Kraft’s role, as explained by Robert Kraft

Team president Jonathan Kraft did not attend Mayo’s press conference. 

The elder Kraft was asked where Jonathan was and what his role will be with the team going forward. 

“Well, I know Jonathan had planned to be here today,” Robert Kraft said. “He really is running all of the Kraft Group companies, and something has come up today that was really important.”

“But he really serves as — he’s like an equal partner to me in the running of the operations strategically,” Kraft continued. “He’s not involved in the day-to-day operations. He’s helping me on an overall basis in the ownership position and would have been here, but one of the other companies had an issue that was critical, and he’s dealing with that.”

Kraft says he has a similar feeling with Mayo as he did with Belichick in ’96

Mayo is just the third coach Kraft has hired since buying the team in 1994. The other two were Belichick and Pete Carroll. 

Kraft said he goes with his instincts when making coaching hires, and regretted the only time went against his gut. 

Kraft wanted to hire Belichick in 1996 after Bill Parcells left to coach the Jets, but hired Carroll instead. Carroll lasted just three seasons with the Patriots before he was fired in 1999. Kraft traded for Belichick who took over as head coach in 2000. 

“I just went with my instinct, and the only time I didn’t was Bill Belichick in ’96 after I saw what went on, I didn’t hire him,” Kraft said. “I made another hire. I didn’t hire him. My instinct was to do it, but because of his loyalty to a man we had such difficulty with who did a great job, but he took another job when we were going to the Super Bowl, and I just couldn’t bring someone in — because trust is so important. 

“But as I watched what happened when he was with his next team, I realized I made a mistake,” Kraft added. “I should have gone with my instincts in ’96, and I hired Bill. That worked out pretty well. Well, I have the same feeling now having watched Jerod for 16 years in a lot of different situations.”

https://www.boston.com/sports/new-england-patriots/2024/01/17/five-takeaways-from-jerod-mayos-introductory-press-conference/