The Patriots had a plan to find a new coach after Bill Belichick, and now they’ve made it happen. Reports on Friday morning confirm that New England has hired Jerod Mayo as their next head coach.
Mayo, 37, had an agreement in his contract from last year that said he would be the one to take over after Belichick. This was already known in the league, so the Patriots didn’t need to go through a big search to find their new head coach.
He first joined the Patriots in 2008 as a first-round pick and played 103 games with the team until 2015. In 2019, he returned to the team as the coach for inside linebackers.
Last January 12, the Patriots announced they were planning to extend Mayo’s contract to keep him with the team for a long time, especially since other teams were interested in him as a potential head coach.
Now, a year later, Mayo is officially the head coach, making him the youngest head coach in the league. Sean McVay of the Rams had held that title since 2017, but Mayo, born on February 23, 1986, is now the new record holder.
The Patriots are expected to introduce Mayo at a press conference next week. There are still seven teams looking for a head coach: the Titans, Raiders, Chargers, Falcons, Panthers, Commanders, and Seahawks.
