Being first Black coach of the Patriots 'means a lot' to Jerod Mayo
FOXBORO — Jerod Mayo offers a fresh set of eyes for the New England Patriots and a new face for all of New England.
The 37-year-old was introduced Wednesday as the 15th head coach in franchise history and the first Black head coach for the organization, for which he played eight seasons as an inside linebacker.
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“You better believe that being the first Black coach here in New England means a lot to me,” Mayo, who was drafted 10th overall in 2008 out of Tennessee, said inside Gillette Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
Mayo, who inherits the task of replacing Bill Belichick, is the youngest coach in the NFL, taking over that title from Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, who'll be 38 on Jan. 24.
“I don’t like echo chambers,” Mayo said. “I want people around me that are going to question my ideas.”
Mayo’s appointment as New England’s bench boss holds greater meaning — not for his age or for replacing the man considered by many to be the greatest of all time — but for young Black fans in the area.
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“When you look at kids in Roxbury or Mattapan, when they look [at the Patriots], they’ve never seen that,” former Patriots safety Devin McCourty, who was in attendance along with several current players, said of Mayo’s appointment as head coach. “Some of the things we want to do in life, we have so much doubt because we don’t know where to look and see somebody that looks like us.”
Said defensive back Jonathan Jones: “The platform we have here at the Patriots, him being able to step up and be an example for many guys and be representation so guys say, ‘Hey, that’s possible. I can be coach of the New England Patriots’ — that means a lot.”
Patriots owner Robert Kraft shared the importance of a Black head coach for the franchise while also calling Mayo, who returned to the organization in 2019 as an inside linebackers coach, the top candidate.
“The Patriots are my passion,” Kraft said. “So I want to get the best people I can get. 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 the best to do the job.”
Mayo said Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin reached out to congratulate him but that the two haven’t discussed the challenges that a Black head coach faces in the NFL. “You want your locker room to be pretty diverse and you want the world to look like that,” Mayo said. “But what I will say is, I do see color because if you don’t see color, you don’t see racism.”
The team will be under different management, and players in attendance spoke to Mayo’s relatability as a young coach and former player.
“As a Black guy," Jones said, "I know growing up, if I was a kid seeing [a Black man leading the Patriots] in this area, it would definitely give me a lot of hope."
Boston/New England Patriots head coaches
1 Lou Saban, 1960–19612 Mike Holovak, 1961–19683 Clive Rush, 1969–19704 John Mazur, 1970 –19725 Phil Bengtson, 19726 Chuck Fairbanks, 1973–19787 Ron Erhardt, 1979–19818 Ron Meyer, 1982–19849 Raymond Berry, 1984–198910 Rod Rust, 199011 Dick MacPherson, 1991–199212 Bill Parcells, 1993–199613 Pete Carroll, 1997–199914 Bill Belichick, 2000–202315 Jerod Mayo, 2024
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Being first Black Patriots coach 'means a lot' to Jerod Mayo
