Daily Digest

Patriots Head Coach Jerod Mayo Wants To Set Different Expectations

New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo has a tall task ahead of him as he looks to carry on the legacy of one of the NFL’s greatest coaches. But in his introductory press conference, Mayo made one thing clear. He won’t be Bill Belichick.

“Now as far as our staff and things like that, we’re going to be good, we’re going to be a lot better,” Mayo said at the press conference. “Now Bill always says this: ‘managing expectations.’ For me, I’m not trying to be Bill, I’m not trying to be Bill. I think that Bill is his own man, if you can’t tell by now I’m even a little bit different up here. But what I will say is, the more I think about the lessons that I’ve taken from Bill, hard work works, right? Hard work works. And that’s what we’re all about.”

In an uncharacteristically genial interview for a New England head coach, Mayo has already done some work to differentiate himself from his mentor. But the tests for the 37-year-old are just beginning as the team’s off-season begins.

Mayo played his entire NFL career, from 2008 to 2015, for Belichick and spent the last five seasons as the Patriots’ inside linebackers coach. He received the sudden promotion to head coach after many of his superiors failed Belichick in recent seasons.

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.

The team’s offense has been hapless for the past two seasons as Matt Patricia and Bill O’Brien have sputtered in separate experiments. Mayo has to nurture a young, well-built defense while also finding personnel to kickstart an offense in desperate need of a rebuild.

Beyond these logistical problems, Mayo will have to deal with the inescapable perception of following Belichick, one that he has already taken steps to defend against in public. Setting a different expectation, as he put it, will be helpful as he looks to preserve his former mentor’s legacy while also making the program his own.

Media outlets will constantly compare Mayo’s first days with Belichick’s massive body of work, which seems unfair on the surface. But something that could work to Mayo’s advantage is that there isn’t necessarily pressure to carry on any immediate success.

The challenge for Mayo is to carry on a legacy, the idea of a Patriots dynasty, but that era of New England history realistically ended years ago. Belichick didn’t give Mayo a super team before departing; he gave him some pieces to build a solid defense and a barren wasteland of an offense. In many ways, the new head coach is getting the opportunity to rebuild a seasoned franchise from the ground up. What he does with that opportunity remains to be seen.

Patrick Moquin

Recent Posts

Paul George Exits With Knee Injury As 76ers Fall To 2-12 In Loss To Grizzlies

With their big three finally back in action Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers suffered another setback…

2 hours ago

VIDEO: Nike Pays Tribute to Rafael Nadal With 30-Foot Projection In Front of Eiffel Tower

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tny--EWynOQ Nike paid tribute to Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal with a 10-meter-tall animated display…

19 hours ago

VIDEO: Rafael Nadal Gets Emotional Tribute as He Retires From Tennis

https://youtu.be/dtJoJz9hC48 Tennis legend Rafael Nadal bid a heartfelt goodbye to his devoted Spanish fans as he brought…

20 hours ago

VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympic Fencer Eli Dershwitz Explains The Art Of Fencing

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DQ9Rxhnuer4 U.S. Olympic fencer Eli Dershwitz shed light on the critical skills necessary in fencing…

2 days ago

Two Bears Offensive Linemen Return To Practice, Caleb Williams Desperate For Blocking

Two offensive linemen for the Chicago Bears returned to practice, a massive step in the…

3 days ago

VIDEO: UFC Heavyweight Champion Performs Viral Trump Dance In New York

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s2g9t_33Myw President-elect Donald Trump received a warm welcome from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Jon…

4 days ago