By Joshua Stewart
The New England Patriots wasted no time in rolling in their new era with the appointment of Jerod Mayo as their new Head Coach less than 48 hours of saying goodbye to Bill Belichick.
The 37 year old will take over as the first new head coach in Massachusetts since the year 2000 and will also become the youngest in the league to fill the role.
Mayo will also become the first ever black Head Coach of the Patriots.
Having already been a member of the Patriots’ backroom staff, the appointment shows that franchise owner Robert Kraft wanted an in-house hire to continue the work in place with the current rebuilding going on in the squad.
Mayo had been the inside line-backers coach from 2018 at Foxborough before his promotion.
He had also spent his entire playing career as a Patriot, having been drafted 10th overall in the 2008 draft by his predecessor Bill Belichick before eventually retiring in 2016.
Mayo was part of the team that won the 2014 Super Bowl over the Seattle Seahawks, albeit injured for the actual game.
With no play-off campaign to navigate, Mayo can focus on preparations for the NFL Draft and next season as he looks to bring his mark onto the team.
With Mac Jones struggling to have made any meaningful claim to the starting quarterback spot, what Mayo does with his third overall draft pick will be watched very closely by the league.
Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels are all highly-tipped quarterbacks that may be available for Mayo to pick, truly signifying a new chapter in the Patriots history books but Mayo may still decide to persist with Jones and give him another chance with a new playbook and offence, though this is seen as unlikely.
One of the most successful franchises in the entire league will look to their former player to help guide them into a new direction and hopes of another Lombardi Trophy in Boston grow slightly stronger.
