Jerod Mayo was introduced as Patriots head coach on Wednesday, and he made clear that it’s a new era.
“I’m not trying to be Bill,” he said, in reference to the legendary Bill Belichick, whom Mayo is replacing after 24 seasons and six Super Bowl titles.
Mayo is the 15th coach in franchise history, and the first Black head coach. It’s an honor and a role Mayo said he takes seriously.
But it seems he’s having fun with it, too. Mayo wasn’t afraid to show some personality, cracking a few jokes and using a special nickname for team owner Robert Kraft.
Plenty of questions remain after Wednesday’s press conference. Kraft wouldn’t divulge who would be making final decisions at the NFL Draft in April, nor if the team intends to hire a general manager.
Key takeaways from Jerod Mayo’s introductory press conference
Big Thunder?
In his opening statement, Mayo referred to Kraft as “Big Thunder,” saying that’s what he calls the longtime owner. And Mayo isn’t shying away from the nickname. He only referred to Kraft as “Thunder” while taking questions.
He’s got jokes
Mayo showed his lighter side early in the event, poking fun at Kraft’s inability to pronounce one of Mayo’s brothers’ names.
“It’s one of those Black names,” Mayo said with a laugh. “I’ll help you with that.”
Mayo’s wife, Chantel, and his children were sitting near Mayo’s brothers, mother, and stepfather at the front of the room for the duration of the press conference.
A thoughtful answer on race
Mayo and Kraft were asked about the importance of this moment, with Mayo being the first Black head coach in team history.
Kraft began by saying he is “colorblind.”
“Winning with the Patriots is my passion. So I want to get the best people. I chose the best head coach for this organization. He happens to be a man of color. But I chose him because I believe he’s best to do the job,” he said.
Mayo followed by drawing a contrast with Kraft’s comments.
“I appreciate that the organization selected me to be a Black head coach,” Mayo said. “... You want your locker room to be pretty diverse and you want the world to live like that.
“What I will say though, is I do see color, because I believe if you don’t see color, you can’t see racism. And whatever happens black, white, someone with disabilities. ... I want you to be able to go up to those people, really understand those people. So it goes back to, whatever it is, black, white, yellow, it really doesn’t matter. But it does matter so we can try to fix the problem that we all know we have.”
The final decision-maker
Belichick played the role of general manager and coach during his entire tenure in New England. Leadership has danced around what might happen on the personnel side.
Kraft was asked who would make the final call at April’s NFL Draft, and he responded without a straight answer.
“This is a day we want to celebrate Jerod taking this position,” Kraft said. “We have a a lot of people internally that have had a chance to learn and grow under the greatest coach of all time, whose football intellect is very special. So in the short term, we’re looking for collaboration as our team has a tremendous opportunity to position itself right. Given our salary cap space, we’ve never drafted in my 30 years of ownership, we’ve never been drafting as low as we’re drafting. So we’re counting on our internal people, whom we’re still learning [about] and evaluating, so we’re going to let that evolve and development, and before the key decisions have to be made, we will appoint someone.”
What about the offensive and defensive coordinator roles? And changing other position coaches?
“That’s a great question. I would say, just like [Kraft] alluded to, everything’s still under consideration,” Mayo said. “Obviously the staff that I’ve been working with isn’t the staff that I’ve chosen, so everything’s under consideration. One thing I would say with all my coaches, number one thing is developing with this generation. I mean, back when I first started playing most of the time guys, you know, coach will say something, guys would do it. I think with this generation, it’s about, you have to show them that you care about them before you get into competency as far as X’s and O’s are concerned. And that’s one thing I feel like with all my coaches, they should know the players, they should know that they’re better than I do. they’re closer. they’re closer to those guys and they have that day-to-day interaction.”
He’s not Bill
Mayo had no problem addressing the six-time-Super-Bowl-winning elephant in the room, but made clear that he’s not here to be the next Bill Belichick.
Even aside from his very direct “I’m not Bill” comments, Mayo’s opening presser was a contrast in styles from wire-to-wire. Much as he has endless respect and reverence for the man whose defense he captained for several years, Mayo will run his own operation in Foxborough.
After two-plus decades of Belichick’s trademark stoicism and brevity, Mayo, 37, was something very different. Since the turn of the century, could you imagine the head coach of the New England Patriots uttering the words “we’re turning up tonight, back to work tomorrow” in any context, let alone a press conference?
And no, “turn up” here is not a synonym for showing up.
Jerod Mayo press conference: How it happened
Kraft and Mayo go together — 1:00 p.m.
Plenty of people have managed to find a place for a “Kraft Mayo” joke this week, but nobody did it earlier than the linebacker himself.
“I first met Jerod in 2008 after we drafted him 10th overall out of the University of Tennessee,” Kraft recalled. “On that day, we introduced him to the media, I remember him coming up to me and saying, ‘Kraft and Mayo, they go together pretty well.’”
They posed for their first photos together on Wednesday, with Kraft sneaking into a Mayo family photo. Maybe he’ll even get the names down before training camp.
Kraft on his influence, particularly around the draft — 12:40 p.m.
“It’ll be the same input that we’ve had for the last three decades. We try to hire the best people we can find and let them do their job and hold them accountable. if you get involved and tell them what to do or try to influence, then you can’t hold them responsible and have them accountable. It’ll be within the people’s discretion, who are the decision-makers, to do it. And if we’ve hired the wrong people, we’ll make a change, but we’re going to try to enjoy as fans.”
What do players think? — 12:38 p.m.
Mayo was asked about the response from players. He said he’s gotten a lot of text messages, and apologized to the folks he hadn’t yet responded to.
“The guys have been great. And once again, it’s all about the players. Another thing I took from Coach Belichick, he will always say: ‘Players win games, coaches lose games.’ And it’s our job as coaches to put the players and the position to go out there and play to their strengths.”
On race and being the first Black coach: ‘I do see color’ — 12:32 p.m.
Mayo and Kraft were asked about the importance of this moment, with Mayo being the first Black head coach in team history.
Kraft began by saying he is “colorblind.”
“Winning with the Patriots is my passion. So I want to get the best people. I chose the best head coach for this organization. He happens to be a man of color. But I chose him because I believe he’s best to do the job,” he said.
Mayo followed by drawing a contrast with Kraft’s comments.
“I appreciate that the organization selected me to be a Black head coach,” Mayo said. “... You want your locker room to be pretty diverse and you want the world to live like that.
“What I will say though, is I do see color, because I believe if you don’t see color, you can’t see racism. And whatever happens black, white, someone with disabilities. ... I want you to be able to go up to those people, really understand those people. So it goes back to, whatever it is black, white, yellow, it really doesn’t matter. But it does matter so we can try to fix the problem that we all know we have.”
Where’s Jonathan? — 12:30 p.m.
Ben Volin asked Robert Kraft what role his son Jonathan might play.
“He really is running all the Kraft Group companies and something has come up today that was really important. He’s like an equal partner to me in the running over the operation strategically, not involved in the day to day operations, helping me on an overall basis in the ownership position.”
Kraft dodges GM question ... again — 12:26 p.m.
Kraft was directly asked if he intended to hire a general manager. His response:
“As I said, this is the first time in a quarter of a century that we’ve had to make major changes, and we want to see what we have in-house, look what’s our there in the marketplace, and then do what we think is right. I know people have ideas, but I can just assure you, any decision we make at this time will be to give support Jerod and put the organization in the best place it can [be] to win games. We know what’s worked for us in the past, and that’s what we’re going to do here in the future.”
Will Mayo keep the same team personnel? — 12:25 p.m.
“One thing with collaboration, there are experts, and I believe in leaning on experts in their field. Now, will we always do what that expert advises? No, absolutely not. But at the same time, I’m gonna go into this thing with no expectations. And I said this as a rookie, I wanted to be a sponge, absorb as much as I can. And we have a lot of people in this building that I can learn from.”
Devin McCourty in the press corps — 12:25 p.m.
Mayo makes it clear: ‘I’m not trying to be Bill’ — 12:23 p.m.
“I’m not trying to be Bill. I’m not trying to be Bill. If you can’t tell by now I’m a little bit different even up here. The more I think about the lessons that I’ve taken from Bill — hard work works. And that’s what we’re all about.”
Will Mayo hire an OC and DC? ‘Titles are important.’— 12:20 p.m.
“That’s a great question. I would say, just like [Kraft] alluded to, everything’s still under consideration. Obviously the staff that I’ve been working with isn’t the staff that I’ve chosen, so everything’s under consideration. One thing I would say with all my coaches, number one thing is developing with this generation. I mean, back when I first started playing most of the time guys, you know, coach will say something, guys would do it. I think with this generation, it’s about, you have to show them that you care about them before you get into competency as far as X’s and O’s are concerned. And that’s one thing I feel like with all my coaches, they should know the players, they should know that they’re better than I do. they’re closer. they’re closer to those guys and they have that day to day interaction.
“But to me, whether we’re talking offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, all that stuff is under eval, and my number one thing is, I want to bring in developers.”
Why does Jerod Mayo keep calling Robert Kraft ‘Thunder’? — 12:19 p.m.
In his opening statement, Mayo referred to Kraft as “Big Thunder,” saying that’s what he calls the longtime owner.
And Mayo isn’t shying away from the nickname, referring to Kraft only as “Thunder” as he takes questions.
Kraft won’t say who will make draft pick — 12:16 p.m.
The first question for Kraft was on who will make the final decision at the NFL Draft in April. The Patriots hold the No. 3 pick.
“This is a day we want to celebrate Jerod taking this position,” Kraft said. “We have a a lot of people internally that have had a chance to learn and grow under the greatest coach of all time, whose football intellect is very special. So in the short term, we’re looking for collaboration as our team has a tremendous opportunity to position itself right. Given our salary cap space we’ve never drafted in my 30 years of ownership, we’ve never been drafting as low as we’re drafting. So we’re counting on our internal people, whom we’re still learning [about] and evaluating, so we’re going to let that evolve and development, and before the key decisions have to be made, we will appoint someone.”
‘I needed a break from Bill’ — 12:15 p.m.
After retiring from football, Mayo took a job in the business world.
“And I love being here. I took a break, I went to Optum — I needed a break from Bill — I went to Optum for about four years,” he said. “I learned a lot about diversity, right, about diversity and inclusion. And you better believe it, being the first Black coach here in New England means a lot to me.
“But those guys taught me you have to take ideas from other people. Black, white, green, yellow really doesn’t matter. The one thing you’ll notice about me in our interaction as we continue to go is, I don’t like echo chambers. I want people around me that are going to question my ideas and question the way we have done things in the past because realistically, this guy was a lot different than when I when I was graduating.”
Mayo dishes on his philosophy — 12:13 p.m.
Jerod Mayo made an opening statement following Kraft. On his calling:
“I would say I’m a huge believer in just developing people. Whether it’s on the football field, whether it’s off the football field, in the media world and business. My calling is to be a teacher and to develop people and help them see, pretty much, what they don’t want to see but they need to see. So my job has always been that. That is my calling.”
Kraft on trip to Israel with Mayo — 12:10 p.m.
Robert Kraft spoke on a trip he and Mayo took to Israel:
“The week we spent together in the Holy Land in 2019 really helped strengthen my convictions about how special Jerod is as a person and how capable I thought he would be as a head coach in this league. With Jerod, I knew while observing him in Israel, he was the right person to be the next head coach of the New England Patriots and that decision has only strengthened as I’ve observed him over the last five years. I’ve learned to trust my instincts throughout my career. And I trust that Jerod is the right person to lead the Patriots back to the championship-level contention and long term success.”
Kraft and Mayo: ‘They go together pretty well’ — 12:08 p.m.
“I first met Jerod in 2008 after we drafted him 10th overall out of the University of Tennessee,” Kraft said in his opening statement. “On that day, we introduced him to the media, I remember him coming up to me and saying, ‘Kraft and Mayo, they go together pretty well.’”
Kraft continued: “Football is Jerod’s true passion. And I believe coaching was always his destiny. His credentials garner respect, and he relates beautifully to the players.”
Kraft opens with family introduction — 12:05 p.m.
Team owner Robert Kraft begins by acknowledging Jerod Mayo’s wife, children, parents and siblings.
“So I’ve been running businesses for more than 50 years,” Kraft began. “In my experience, the most successful leadership transitions happen when we’re privileged to develop talent from within, and that allows us to create a succession plan that allows the candidate to better prepare for the opportunity when he arrives.”
Mac Jones in the house — 12:00 p.m.
The plan at GM — 11:55 a.m.
By Nicole Yang
Asked last Thursday if the Patriots planned to hire a general manager before a head coach, all owner Robert Kraft would say is that the organization will “try to move very quickly” on those matters. Kraft’s actions the following day ended up answering that question, as the Patriots elected to announce Mayo as head coach without any corresponding move at general manager.
According to a league source, the Patriots currently do not plan to have anybody hold the “general manager” title next season. As of now, director of player personnel Matt Groh and director of scouting Eliot Wolf will continue to lead the front office. Other key internal figures include pro scouting director Steve Cargile and director of college scouting Camren Williams.
This offseason is expected to be critical for the Patriots, who have several roster needs and hold the third overall pick in the draft.
Will Mayo talk QBs? — 11:50 a.m.
By Nicole Yang
The Patriots have two quarterbacks under contract for next season, but neither Mac Jones nor Bailey Zappe is a viable long-term option. The offense has a number of personnel problems, but quarterback should be the top priority.
The decision at offensive coordinator looms large, as the team’s quarterback coaching structure has undergone three changes in three years. Should the Patriots draft a quarterback, they need to create an environment conducive to growth and success.
Other offensive positions that urgently need to be addressed: premium-caliber tackle, traditional No. 1 wide receiver, and third-down running back.
Should Steve Belichick stay or should he go? — 11:45 a.m.
Steve Belichick has a decision to make.
He could go, leave his job as an assistant coach with the Patriots, and follow his father Bill to his next football stop. Or he could stay, and remain on the staff of the only NFL employer he’s ever known. He could go, and remain safely inside the Belichick realm, not bothered knowing their shared last name, and his dad’s outsized personality, would continue to engulf his own. Or he could stay, and step out of that shadow, ready to build a résumé independent of the most important football influence of his life.
Read the rest of Tara Sullivan’s column here.
Gasper: Mayo needs an NFL exec with experience — 11:40 a.m.
If experience is the best teacher, then the Patriots went from being led by a decision-maker with a PhD in professional football in Bill Belichick to a new football operations setup with a trio of player-pickers who still qualify as pigskin pupils.
That’s dubious and dangerous. Read Christopher L. Gasper’s column on the topic here.
Scenes from Gillette — 11:35 a.m.
The plan for a defensive coordinator — 11:30 a.m.
By Nicole Yang
Mayo already has plans to interview an external candidate for this role, as he’s scheduled to interview Panthers outside linebackers coach Tem Lukabu, according to a league source. The 42-year-old Lukabu spent three seasons (2020-22) as defensive coordinator at Boston College before returning to the NFL.
Given the defense’s impressive performance this season, along with its roster continuity, it would make sense if Mayo opts for an internal hire. Defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington, who interviewed last year for coordinator openings with the Cardinals and Chargers, would be a strong choice.
The big question for the defensive staff, though, is what does the future hold for linebackers coach Steve Belichick and safeties coach Brian Belichick? Do the sons plan to follow their father to his next destination? Or would they be open to staying in New England, where they have cultivated relationships of their own and grown their families?
Mayo, who has forged a close friendship with Steve Belichick, has extended job offers to both brothers, according to Sports Illustrated.
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The Patriots haven’t officially named a defensive coordinator since Matt Patricia, with Brian Flores, Steve Belichick, and Mayo all serving in that role without the title.
Will the Patriots hire a GM? — 11:25 a.m.
By Nicole Yang
Asked last Thursday if the Patriots planned to hire a general manager before a head coach, all owner Robert Kraft would say is that the organization will “try to move very quickly” on those matters. Kraft’s actions the following day ended up answering that question, as the Patriots elected to announce Mayo as head coach without any corresponding move at general manager.
According to a league source, the Patriots currently do not plan to have anybody hold the “general manager” title next season. As of now, director of player personnel Matt Groh and director of scouting Eliot Wolf will continue to lead the front office. Other key internal figures include pro scouting director Steve Cargile and director of college scouting Camren Williams.
This offseason is expected to be critical for the Patriots, who have several roster needs and hold the third overall pick in the draft.
‘I’m so proud of Jerod.’ — 11:20 a.m.
Jerod Mayo was named the 15th head coach in Patriots history on Friday. As a player, assistant coach and media analyst, he’s been a part of the New England football fabric since he arrived as a first-round pick out of Tennessee in 2008. In many ways, it feels like a natural move for a player who was voted a team captain at the age of 23.
Christopher Price has five things to know about Mayo here.
Amin Touri can be reached at amin.touri@globe.com. Katie McInerney can be reached at katie.mcinerney@globe.com. Follow her on Instagram at @katiemac.sports.