I don't know . . . he wrote "apart". Seems like he wants a break from the team.
I don't know . . . he wrote "apart". Seems like he wants a break from the team.
Mayo’s also acted as the Patriots defacto-defensive coordinator. Following a standout defensive effort against the Buffalo Bills, Deatrich Wise credited Mayo for the team’s game plan in shutting down Josh Allen. The coach’s duties include breaking down the opponent’s offense, game planning on how to stop them, and breaking down practice and film sessions to give players their corrections.
One of my old managers used to say that if employees are overly excited about a new boss, it’s probably because they know they will be easy to work for. I’m not suggesting Mayo will be a pushover, but the players don’t want a new guy coming in telling them what to do. Especially post-Belichick.Wow players and former players seems to LOVE this. One after another popping up with glowing support on Twitter
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Specifically, what worries me more than the number of analysts is that Richard Miller is in charge of both analytics and finances (apparently his duties include managing the salary cap and player costs, contract research and statistical trends, financial and strategic planning, and assisting the personnel department with draft, free agency and game advance analytics). Those are two separate skill sets and full-time areas of research, even if they are quantitative, and even if ultimately they can roll up to one AGM.THIS speaks volumes to me. We've got ONE PERSON in our org who deals with data. We are WAY behind the times. MIller wears WAY too many hats and can't possibly innovate when he's responsible for the cap, finances and player analytics.
Carroll was far from a "terrible head coach" with NE.people keep saying this but Grier was awful and Carroll was a terrible head coach back in 1997 and only became a good coach through experience at USC.
Thanks. (and soon after, NESN discontinued its Pats beat coverage.....)
I believe he has been calling plays at least part time the last 2 years according to various articlesPositives for Mayo:
Negatives are mostly his unknowns/inexperience:
- He had a major hand in the only functional unit on the team and the players in that unit want to work for him
- People view his intelligence/curiosity and communication skills as strengths
- He seems like the type of guy who knows what he doesn't know and I hope that translates to hiring practices, especially on the offense and special teams side
- I think he's got enough BB in him, with the ability to better connect with the more modern players
- He came up under BB
- Hasn't been a HC
- Hasn't called defensive plays during a regular season game
- We don't know how he will hire or be involved with the offense
- He came up under BB
Feels like this piece is required reading on Mayo.
https://theathletic.com/4317268/2023/03/20/jerod-mayo-patriots-bill-belichick/
Glad you agree.I know. I wish Mike Shannahan got rid of his son and all of his friends!!!! Clearly they weren't actually talented on their own.
Bedard is a troll.Those sources also claim Mayo was a long shot to replace Bill.
the argument for “offensive minded HC” is closely tied to the idea that a young QB (which the Pats badly need) benefits from stability on offense. If the Pats get a great OC who works well with their 3rd overall pick QB and then that OC leaves the next year, it creates problems for the young QB. Whereas if your HC is the brains behind the offense, you can keep coach and QB together for as long as those guys are succeeding.One advantage Mayo has is that he probably has some insight into the other coaches on the staff.
There are other similar ones floating around as well.
I think the "offensive minded" HC is way overrated, as compared to who is the OC in '24. Somehow "offensive minded" head coaches around the league manage to field teams with good defenses. As for inexperience, I suppose that's a real thing. But in recent - and not so recent -- years, the likes of McVay and Tomlin have done pretty well.
And in the NFL, "experience" is often a proxy for "mediocre re-tread." Not always. Just like HC experience is Not always determinative.
Other than Bill, who was not really hired to be a “front office person”, who has Kraft hired that indicates he’s “done well”? Bobby Grier?One thing this definitely (as far as we know) was not was "rushed". This plan has been in place for a long time and they're obviously very, very comfortable with Mayo as the HC. And that gives me confidence. They've done well hiring front office people.
A lot of the staffing budget will open up if Bill takes another job. He was reportedly making $20m a year. The NFL average for head coaches is ~$6.5m. Mayo has some leverage as the named successor, but is also a first time head coach. Let's say he makes about what Saleh and LaFleur make - $5m. So that's $15m in savings minus whatever remains after Bill's offset.Specifically, what worries me more than the number of analysts is that Richard Miller is in charge of both analytics and finances (apparently his duties include managing the salary cap and player costs, contract research and statistical trends, financial and strategic planning, and assisting the personnel department with draft, free agency and game advance analytics). Those are two separate skill sets and full-time areas of research, even if they are quantitative, and even if ultimately they can roll up to one AGM.
What GM has a proven track record of hiring coaches that is better than Kraft’s record?I wish they -- the Krafts -- had had a plan for a big-brained GM hire who would then, as the actual football nerd, hire a coach.
I hope Mayo coaches the team from now until the end of time, but it seems like a quick move with the order of operations off.
I can imagine Mayo - who is already rich, super confident and ambitious, and was anointed by Kraft within three years or so of joining the staff - would breed some resentment among members of the staff. Too bad. Given how vague Bedard’s report was (he doesn’t explain how he ‘rubbed people the wrong way’), and I said this at the time Bedard dropped it, it’s a chickenshit bit of reporting.Bedard is a troll.
If those sources knew anything, they'd have known that Mayo's last contract included a provision that he would be the next head coach of the Pats. It's literally the only way they could have hired him without interviewing from outside the organization to satisfy the Rooney Rule.
"The Patriots wrote into his contract last January that Mayo would succeed Belichick as the next head coach. Because they communicated with the league that this clause existed, the Patriots were not required to conduct a full coaching search following the Rooney Rule, which typically requires teams to conduct in-person interviews with at least two external minority candidates. Mayo becomes the first Black non-interim head coach for the Patriots."
https://theathletic.com/5198294/2024/01/12/jerod-mayo-hiring-patriots-head-coach/
Kyle famously never worked under his dad, though.I know. I wish Mike Shannahan got rid of his son and all of his friends!!!! Clearly they weren't actually talented on their own.
That's not true. Washington's OC from 2010-2013. Mike was the HC at that time.Kyle famously never worked under his dad, though.
Walpole Joe Morgan"Coach JMs" in Boston have a good track record so far.
Maybe Kraft should sell to an owner who has hired lots of people. Dan Snyder has hired lots of people. And he's available.Other than Bill, who was not really hired to be a “front office person”, who has Kraft hired that indicates he’s “done well”? Bobby Grier?
<Mark Morrison voice>
I totally whiffed on Montgomery. Time to go back to bed.Walpole Joe Morgan
Jim Montgomery
Both James White and Jason McCourty are ecstatic over the Mayo hire on Twitter, FWIW.
Wow players and former players seems to LOVE this. One after another popping up with glowing support on Twitter
Not to pick on any one of you, but current players have already worked under Mayo and former players will generally applaud a big promotion for a former teammate of theirs. I like the hire, and obviously their support for the move can be rooted in multiple factors, including how good they think he'll be, but I'm not sure there's a whole lot to be taken from their applause.One of my old managers used to say that if employees are overly excited about a new boss, it’s probably because they know they will be easy to work for. I’m not suggesting Mayo will be a pushover, but the players don’t want a new guy coming in telling them what to do. Especially post-Belichick.
So, agreed, it is a good idea to see the other dominos that fall here. Get a GM. Get an OC.That is fair. But, it is clear that the move was not rushed. There was a succession plan in place and Kraft executed it.
GM is next. Then figure out OC and the remaining staff.
With the state of the defense, a top 3 pick, and the cap space, I doubt we see anything close to the early 90s redux of multiple 2-15, 3-14, 4-13 seasons.
Sign Jordan Montgomery as player/manager.I totally whiffed on Montgomery. Time to go back to bed.
3 active head coaches same city same initials. Gotta be a record?
Joe Smartglasses is available to complete the quartet.
No thanks on McDaniels. Go with someone with a better offense.As much I hate even the sight of mayonaisse (on french fries, really France?) I'm excited about this move. The fact that Bob is going with the status quo in the coaching room makes me think that the parting was solely based on the GM responsibilities. I'm glad the Krafts didn't clean house although I think Mayo needs to do so on the offense and special teams coaching groups. Sorry BOB. Looking forward to JM on the sidelines
Sorry meant Mayo not McDaniels. Note to self: JM needs disambiguationNo thanks on McDaniels. Go with someone with a better offense.
This is EXACTLY how I manage teams in my business and I have a ton of younger employees. This works.I think this sort of thing is meaningful:
View: https://twitter.com/LRiddickESPN/status/1745832695739904471?s=20
I can't see it either and definitely wouldn't want him, but what does BB have to do with him coming here? Unless I'm missing something.Welker is persona-non-grata with BB, so I don't think they go that way if they move on.
Really? Are they implying that the cost played even a minor role? (I doubt it). They dont think Kraft could have found someone cheaper than Mayo? (He could have).On the drive in they were already discussing how this move was probably the most financially feasible move to make.. I hope Bob realizes he is setting himself up for a lot of bad press, and this press will be hungry for someone to kick since Bill is no longer around if it goes south! With this roster i dont see good things ahead.
If you turn the M upside down it, appropriately, becomes the opposite. All things balanced."Coach JMs" in Boston have a good track record so far.
- While nearly everyone I've talked to believes Mayo has the stuff to be a head coach, I can't find many who believe he is ready to assume that role right now. He needs to sit and learn more from a coach who shares a bit more, like a Vrabel, and to have more responsibility. Of course, if Mayo is passed over, you can almost guarantee he'll re-enter the HC interview circuit.
- Multiple team sources indicated Mayo has rubbed at least some people the wrong way in the building since his extension and when he, perhaps, received a strong indication he would be the successor (the idea was more for 2025 or '26). Maybe this is of no concern to the Krafts, if their mind was already made up. I have no new information that would lead me to believe the Krafts don't continue to think highly of Mayo. But you would expect them to do their due diligence on whoever they might have in mind — internal or external. Of course, you can't rule out that some sources are lining up their own boats and perhaps thinking that Mayo may be setting a new course.
Or there's Rutgers statistics professor Harold Sackrowitz, who got a call from Adams a few years back. Adams wanted to talk about some research Sackrowitz had just completed, dealing with how teams try two-point conversions far too often. Adams sent the professor the Patriots' when-to-go-for-two chart, and asked Sackrowitz to tear it apart. Of the 32 NFL teams, the statistician told the New York Times, only the Patriots called.
Here's another example: The academic paper of a Berkeley researcher, referenced in the same Times story, dealt with how teams punt on fourth down far too often. That paper ended up on Belichick's desk. Now, how do you imagine it got there?
On game day, Adams wears a headset in the press box, a direct line to Belichick. Adams advises Belichick on which plays to challenge, and charts trends. "The one thing the Patriots do better than anyone else is they adjust and make halftime adjustments," Sturges says. "Ernie Adams is the guy who does that."
In the broadest definition, Adams seems to be a man who loves to be in the background of greatness. Many things have his fingerprints on them, such as the game plan that engineered the upset of the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. Yes, Adams and Belichick figured out how to neutralize Marshall Faulk on the plane ride to New Orleans. Adams is involved in a lot of surprising things; he's a kind of "Forrest Gump" of sporting success. Like, say, the best-selling book "Friday Night Lights," which documented high school football, and later became a movie and a television show. That's right. "I'm indebted to him because he really turned me on to Odessa, Texas," says author Buzz Bissinger, who went to Andover with Adams and Belichick.
Don’t Hold the MayoBig downgrade in the forum subtitle.
Blinded by the Lombardis: Patriots Forum
The New England Patriots forum.In Belichick We Trust.Mayo will be fine if they get the GM right some posters guess.
"He needs to sit and learn" is such patronizing garbage.I don't think it's fair to characterize Bedard's story and related comments about Mayo as negative or trolling, but YMMV. Bedard preferred a more experienced person taking the reins, which is not a radical take.
From Dec. 14th (see last sentence):
Well, certainly not "Mayo makes anything worse"Don’t Hold the Mayo
Cinco de Mayo
Hey Oh, the New Coach is Mayo
Just spitballing here.