Jerod Mayo Enjoying Life As Rookie Coach Under Bill Belichick
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- It wasn't all that long ago that a legitimate concern about the 2019 Patriots revolved around the loss of Brian Flores, the rapid hiring and resignation of Greg Schiano, and the lack of humans and clarity among Patriots defensive coaches.
Through three games, with a grand total of three points allowed on defense, those concerns have already been turned into ancient history.
That's in large part due to the incredible talent level at every level of the defense, but it's also been aided by what appears to be solid and aggressive coaching. Inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, in his first year as a coach at any level, has played a significant role in that. Though the exact details of defensive play-calling have been kept as somewhat of a mystery by Bill Belichick and Co., there's no doubt that Mayo's made an impact as a rookie coach.
"Jerod's done a great job," Belichick said on Tuesday. "His experience as a player in our system is very valuable. We can talk about calls that we can make on the field or identifications and so forth and his perspective of, 'Yeah, that's no problem. That'd be easy. That's easy for us to do,' or 'That's a lot harder because the player is thinking about 'this', he's thinking about 'that' and so forth.' It makes us re-think and have that perspective of how easy it is or isn't for a player in certain situations. He's done it and he's done it under pressure and dealt with a lot of things we currently deal with, and so that's a good perspective to have in the room. We don't have that from anybody else defensively."
Considering the results -- the Patriots rank No. 1 by a country mile in both yards and points allowed -- Mayo has been enjoying himself.
"I'm enjoying the new job. Every day is a different day. I'm enjoying being back around the guys, and honestly, it's always fun winning games, especially when the guys go out there and play well. It makes for an enjoyable experience. So far, so good," Mayo said.
While Mayo obviously has no coaching experience, his eight-year playing career with the Patriots has helped ease the transition to the new job. Working under Belichick hasn't hurt, either, just as it helped tremendously when Mayo was a player.
"We have the benefit of having Coach Belichick in the room with us each and every day, which is a benefit to all the coaches, especially having a young coaching staff," Mayo said. "Definitely a learning experience, a collaborative experience, and I think all the coaches put in, as far as game planning goes. ... Playing under Coach Belichick, we couldn't ask for anything more. Obviously, one of the greatest head coaches of all time, not only the things you learn as far as X's and O's, but also things off the field and just leadership in general. So, I definitely try to take those principles that I learned as a player and apply them as a coach. It's definitely been a good experience."
Ever a Patriot, Mayo was careful to not allow the early success lead to any grand visions when asked if this defensive unit has championship potential.
"Up until this point, the defense has played well, but you know this defense will look totally different in a few months from now," Mayo said. "Hopefully, we can go out each and every day on the practice field. Coach says it all the time, 'Practice equals game reality,' and that's what we kind of live by. So, hopefully we can continue to get better each and every day. I don't want to look out too far, but I think if we go out to work each and every day, that we'll be in a good place when it's all said and done."
That early success also doesn't mean that Mayo's planning on getting complacent. Mayo was asked if he'll be participating in Duron Harmon's upcoming karaoke charity event, and Mayo said he does not anticipate being available.
"Look, if I was a player, I would definitely be involved. But as a coach, we're here until late nights," Mayo said. "Late nights working for Coach Belichick. We put a lot of work in. So, if I can get out of here early, I'll be there."
That type of dedication certainly has Mayo in good standing with the man who once spent his time at a victory parade chanting "No days off" at a crowd of elated thousands.
"As far as adapting to the coaching lifestyle and so forth," Belichick said, "Jerod's done a great job."