Joe Mazzulla visits Patriots practice, chats it up with Jerod Mayo
FOXBORO -- The Patriots are starting over this season with new head coach Jerod Mayo, who owns a ring from his playing days but is still extremely green as a head coach. So Mayo welcomed a head coach with some title experience at Thursday's practice in Foxboro: Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics.
The fiery Celtics coach didn't try to tackle any players from the sideline while the media was allowed to record Thursday's practice session. But we don't know if that changed once the cameras had to stop rolling.
Mazzulla has been busy celebrating the team's 2024 title, but he'll never pass up a chance to attend a Patriots practice. A Rhode Island native, Mazzulla is a huge Patriots fan and got to know Mayo pretty well when he visited Foxboro for a practice last season when Bill Belichick was the head coach.
In January, Mazzulla expressed excitement when Mayo got the job following Belichick's departure. He lauded Mayo's ability to connect with players while he was a defensive coach, and was eager to see what Mayo could do as a head coach.
"He's been around a long time, he's coached there, played there -- I don't need to give him any [advice]," Mazzulla said said of Mayo in January after he got the job. "He does have my support and I can't wait to go over there and sit with him, and just learn from him."
But Mayo could probably get some sound advice from Mazzulla, who understands the challenges of taking over a team with a long history of winning. And like Mayo, Mazzulla had no professional head-coaching experience when he was named head coach of the Celtics in place of a suspended Ime Udoka. Mazzulla found himself under heavy fire throughout his first season on the Boston bench, and there were calls to fire the head coach after the Celtics bowed out in the Eastern Conference Finals that postseason.
But Mazzulla never changed his ways -- neither his style on the court or attitude off it -- and it was a big part of the Celtics winning Banner 18 a few months ago. Having a loaded roster certainly helped, but Mazzulla got Boston's stars to buy into his system and the team rolled to 64 wins in the regular season and a 16-3 record on their way to a title.
If Mayo can figure out a way to translate "Mazzulla Ball" onto the football field, maybe the Patriots will surprise us a bit in 2024. (Though having a roster stacked with talent tends to work better.)