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Henry McKenna
AFC East Reporter
The New England Patriots no longer have a head coach, with Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft mutually agreeing to part ways on Thursday.
So, who’s the next man up?
As much as it feels in bad taste, that’s the question Belichick asked any time a player left the Patriots in free agency. It’s just business, even if it’s a complicated transaction, given that Belichick delivered an NFL record six Super Bowl wins to New England.
It won’t be easy to follow in the GOAT’s footsteps. Just ask Cam Newton and Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe, who had to follow in the footsteps of Tom Brady.
[Bill Belichick’s legacy is complicated, but his greatness is cemented]
The Patriots and the Kraft family have to decide which direction they want to go, philosophically, with their next coach. A wise man (ESPN’s Bill Barnwell) once told me that NFL owners tend to hire the polar opposite of the coach they’re replacing. But this isn’t your average hiring. Kraft, for all his tensions with Belichick, must understand the value of the coach.
And the Patriots intend to hire their coach before they hire a GM. So let’s start with the candidate who has the most clearcut path to the role.
Jerod Mayo, Patriots LBs coach
If Kraft wants what is most familiar, Mayo is the guy. He’s already in the building. He was recently a Patriots captain. He has an impressive track record of running his position group and New England’s defense — though, technically, he isn’t the defensive coordinator.
Over the past few years, Belichick refused to name Mayo or Steve Belichick as the DC. As a result, it became murky as to who deserved credit for the defensive success after the departures of Matt Patricia in 2017 and Brian Flores in 2018.
The high and low points of Bill Belichick’s time in New England
But Mayo is beloved — even with the recent report that, perhaps, he was rubbing players the wrong way. His answer to that…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/5-candidates-patriots-should-consider-to-replace-bill-belichick
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Publish date : 2024-01-11 16:12:57
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