Patriots hire Jerod Mayo: These four NFL teams considered Mayo as head coach prior to New England promotion

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The New England Patriots wasted no time replacing head coach Bill Belichick this week, promoting veteran assistant Jerod Mayo to head coach one day after publicly bidding Belichick farewell. While Mayo’s hiring was foretold inside the organization, New England isn’t the only team that viewed the former linebacker as a viable head coach, with four other clubs targeting Mayo for a top job in recent years.

Mayo, 37, has only ever served as the Patriots’ inside linebackers coach, a position he’s held since 2019. But he’s long been viewed as a potential Belichick successor, previously playing eight seasons under the coach from 2008-2015. And other teams have taken notice. The Philadelphia Eagles were the first to host him for a head-coaching interview back in 2021, and Mayo “blew them out of the water,” per NBC Sports Boston, only to be passed over for the offensively minded Nick Sirianni.

A year later, in the 2022 offseason, both the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders also interviewed Mayo for head-coaching vacancies. Denver ultimately traded for longtime New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, while Las Vegas hired Mayo’s former Patriots colleague, Josh McDaniels. The Carolina Panthers tried to follow suit ahead of the 2023 season, but Mayo reportedly declined to interview, citing a desire to remain in New England. He later signed a contract extension with the Patriots that pointed to a potential succession of Belichick.

Mayo, who was drafted 10th overall by the Patriots in 2008 and won Super Bowl XLIX as a player, is now the youngest head coach in the NFL. His path to the top job has some similarities to that of DeMeco Ryans, who’s preparing for his playoff debut as the first-year coach of the Houston Texans….

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/patriots-hire-jerod-mayo-these-four-nfl-teams-considered-mayo-as-head-coach-prior-to-new-england-promotion/

Author : Cody Benjamin

Publish date : 2024-01-12 14:52:30

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