Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - BONUS CLIP: New England Patriots, Jerod Mayo hired as Bill Belichick's Successor

Starting point is 00:00:00 Well, that didn't take long. Gerard Mayo is the new head coach in New England. Here to help us break it all down is the fantastic host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, your daily podcast. Keep you up to date with everything going on with the New England Patriots, which is a lot nowadays. Mike DeBate here with us. I am Ross Jackson, NFL expert here on the Locked On Podcast Network. Well, Mike, this didn't take long at all. Were you surprised to see how quickly they turned from Bill Belichick

Starting point is 00:00:33 to hiring Gerard Mayo as the new head coach in New England? Yeah, I mean, come on. You know, it hasn't even been a day. I mean, let the seat cool off for a moment. I don't think they even made it 24 hours. No, it's not. It definitely isn't. I mean, the bags were packed off for a moment. I don't think they even made it 24 hours. No, it's not. It definitely isn't. I mean, they had, the bags were packed and they were ready to go.

Starting point is 00:00:49 You know, look, I guess in terms of surprise, maybe the timing and the quickness of, you know, his hiring game is a little bit of a surprise this morning, but I really have to be honest, the undercurrent in the building and their undercurrent around the team the last few days, even before things were announced with Bill Belichick seemed to point toward Gerard Mayo he has a lot of support in that locker room I know that players absolutely love playing for him they say that he has that Belichickian discipline without necessarily the same type of voice a different way of motivating not necessarily better but different. And I think that it gives this team now an opportunity to move forward with a young head coach, someone that is motivated to win and someone that was one of the fiercest competitors

Starting point is 00:01:34 that I've ever seen here in New England as a linebacker and someone that players definitely will listen to. He called the shots out there in that defense when he played. He's been doing it for a while here now as a de facto defensive coordinator yeah Gerard Mayo is someone that I know is eager to show that he's a good head coach in this league and I think he's going to show it in short order yeah it seems like a pretty fresh and unique way to still maintain sort of that quote-unquote patriot way that we talk about the time, but still bring this team into a little bit more of the modern era and going with the sort of, you know, the,

Starting point is 00:02:09 the, the rhythm that we've seen around the NFL of the, the, the former player head coach that seems to have had a unique impact across the league as, as more teams are trending that way. When you look at Gerard Mayo too, they, they built it into his contract, right? It right? It was sort of in his contract and he would be the successor for Bill Belichick. Am I understanding that correctly? Yeah, I think this is kind of unprecedented in terms of having something, or at least in terms of where I've ever seen a clause written into a contract that essentially guarantees that this gentleman is going to be kept in the fold for a long term. And I think that's something that the Cubs saw in the fold for a long term and i think that's something that the club saw in gerard mayo don't forget he's been um considered for head coaching

Starting point is 00:02:51 jobs and interviewed for head coaching jobs with philadelphia with denver he interviewed last year with carolina for their open defensive coordinator position um so this is someone who has been sought after it's not like head coaching and Gerard Mayo just never had the opportunity to see the light of day. He's been someone that's been on teams' radars, and I think the Patriots picked up on that. I think they saw the way the players respond to him, and they realized this is a voice we cannot lose in this organization. Once the decision was made to move on from Bill Belichick yeah I think all eyes sort of just gravitated directly toward Gerard Mayo at that point and that's why you see such a quick announcement yeah and look we saw last year another one of these defensive head coaches moving into a first

Starting point is 00:03:35 time head coach role or excuse me defensive coordinators moving into a first time head coach role getting the rookie quarterback and now being in the playoffs. When we look at D'Amico Ryans and the Houston Texans, the New England Patriots have some big shoes to fill. Gerard Mayo does when it comes to Bill Belichick, but look, first year head coach, number three overall pick. Do you think that the New England Patriots can surprise the way that the Houston Texans did in 2023? Well, I think that's what the crafts and I think that's what the fan base are counting

Starting point is 00:04:03 on right now. I mean, you have a top three pick. You obviously don't have the franchise quarterback of your future on the roster right now. Now, what that means for Mac Jones and Bailey Zappi, I think that's an excellent question that will be answered in subsequent weeks. But right now, you have to think Gerard Mayo is looking at a quarterback at those top three positions. Is he going to get the opportunity to see Caleb Williams slip to number three? I don't think so, but stranger things have happened in NFL, Russ. There's always a chance of that happening. Maybe Drake May is there. Maybe there's some wheeling and dealing at the number two pick that allows him to slip to number three, or maybe the Patriots do go with Jaden Daniels,

Starting point is 00:04:40 the Heisman Trophy winner out of LSU. Those are the guys that right now are considered top three consensus quarterbacks. The Patriots made the move from Bill Belichick to move on and to move into the future. It would naturally fall into line that Mayo would want one of those guys to be the captain of his ship at the helm on the field. That's the way I'm looking. But Patriots need a lot more help than just quarterbacks. So I think it's very important for Patriots fans to temper their enthusiasm and remember

Starting point is 00:05:09 that Gerard Mayo still has an awful lot of work to rebuild, especially that offense. Yeah, obviously quarterback's going to be at the top of everybody's conversation list, but it feels like there's still things that have to happen even before then. Do you expect more changes on the coaching staff for the New England Patriots or kind of what is the next step for them as they move into their new future here well you have to think that Gerard Mayo's battery mate Steven Belichick who's the outside the inside linebacker excuse me outside linebackers coach is probably going to I would say follow his dad I really don't expect him to remain on staff again stranger things have happened we haven't had a whole lot of clarity

Starting point is 00:05:43 from the crafts we'll get that next week when Gerard Mayo is introduced as head coach formally. But at this point, you have to think that more changes will be made on that staff. The special teams ranked number 28 in DVOA this year, 31 last year. You have to think that needs to change. And the Patriots always put a pride on special teams prowess, whether Bill Belichick is in the room or not. Gerard Mayo learned what he learned as a head coach from Bill Belichick. He's going to take a lot of those same messages, a lot of that same training and put it into practice and give his own spin on it. It'll be a different voice in that room, but I guarantee you that Gerard Mayo will still have a whole lot of Bill Belichick in the way he goes about methodically rebuilding this team.

Starting point is 00:06:27 Well, it's going to be a very fun off season over in New England. And Mike, I'm so excited to see what you've got coming up. If you're wanting to keep up to date with everything going on with Gerard Mayo, the new head coach of the New England Patriots, New England Patriots themselves, the quarterback position, and all the other big questions that are going to be circling around the Patriots, the Locked On Patriots podcast is the one and only place to be every single Monday through Friday. Here is a part of the Locked On podcast.

Starting point is 00:06:50 Network your team every day. Mike, thanks so much for the time. Thanks, Ross. Much appreciated, my friend.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - BONUS CLIP: New England Patriots, Jerod Mayo hired as Bill Belichick's Successor

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