Hiring Bill Belichick assistants rarely works out. Here’s why Jerod Mayo could be different

Mayo can sell the Patriot Way ™ because he lived the Patriot Way. Also, he doesn’t have to sell the Patriot Way, even in New England.

Jerod Mayo has his work cut out for him.

He’s inheriting a New England Patriots team that went 4-13 last season. That team has two quarterbacks under contract for 2024 and they’re Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe. They have the third overall pick in a draft with two blue chip passers, an offensive line in need of replacements at both tackle positions and a receiving corps with, maaaaaaybe, one wideout who’d qualify as “average” among NFL starters.

Also, he has to follow the greatest head coach in NFL history.

Mayo will reportedly take the head coaching reins from Bill Belichick, a man who won six Super Bowls and 30 playoff games in 24 seasons before being shown the door this winter. After spending 13 of the last 17 years in New England — the last five as the team’s linebackers coach — team owner Robert Kraft was so convinced he’s the right man for the job that he didn’t even interview anyone else.

Thus, the man who’ll be the league’s youngest head coach steps into its harshest spotlight. Last year’s 4-13 season and the five-year playoff win drought that preceded it temper expectations a bit, but no matter how he does he’s still the Ryan Minor to Belichick’s Cal Ripken. The Jimmy Johnson to both Tom Landry AND Don Shula.

On top of that, he’s a leaf off the Belichick coaching tree. Too often, this has been the NFL’s gympie gympie, a toxic plant capable only of introducing pain to anyone to come in contact with it. Failures include, hang on:

  • Josh McDaniels (20-33 as an NFL head coach)
  • Matt Patricia (13-29-1)
  • Joe Judge (10-23)
  • Romeo Crennel (32-63)
  • Eric Mangini (33-47)
  • and many more.

The high points are Bill O’Brien (52-48 before ultimately being undone by his general manager, Bill O’Brien) and Brian Daboll, who is 15-18-1 with the New York Giants. That’s bad! The Patriots know this is bad, but opted for continuity and familiarity … even after a four-win season.

New England was so confident in this the team filed a succession plan with the league even before Belichick was on his way out. The team won’t talk to Mike Vrabel or Ben Johnson or, heh, Jim Harbaugh. This is Mayo’s team, all the way.

Here’s the thing. It could work. There are two reasons why Mayo may be the rare fruit from the Belichick tree that isn’t poison.