Jerod Mayo excited to be first Black head coach in Patriots history
FOXBORO – Wednesday marked a historic day for Jerod Mayo and the New England Patriots as he was named the first Black head coach in franchise history. The importance of his hire was not lost on Mayo.
"You better believe it. Being the first Black coach here in New England means a lot to me," Mayo said. "You have to take ideas from other people. Black, white, green, yellow, it really doesn't matter. Old, young. One thing you'll notice about me in my interaction as we continue to go, is I don't like echo chambers. I want people around me that are going to question my ideas or question the way we have done things in the past. Because realistically, this game's a lot different from when I was drafted in 2008."
Mayo was officially introduced as head coach during a press conference at Gillette Stadium.
Owner Robert Kraft was asked what the historic hiring meant to him.
"I'm really colorblind in terms of I know what I feel like on Sunday when we lose. I can just tell you that after my family, my passion is with the New England Patriots and there's something else very close second, but winning with the Patriots is my passion," Kraft said. "So I want to get the best people we 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 followed Kraft's answer with his own perspective.
"What I will say though is I do see color. I believe if you don't see color, you can't see racism," Mayo said. "What I would say is I want you to be able to go up to those people and really understand those people. So it goes back to, whatever it is, black, white, yellow. It really doesn't matter. But it does matter, so we can try to fix the problem that we all know we have."
WBZ-TV sports director Steve Burton asked Mayo about his comments regarding race during a one-on-one interview following the press conference.
"I understand where Robert was coming from. I think it's important," Mayo said. "I think [Kraft] was talking about in the building and in football, but I was talking about in the world. Raising my kids, having those discussions around the table, those are great discussions to have. I am fortunate enough to be raising four Black kids and making sure they are aware and treat everyone fairly. Not treat everyone the same, but fairly. I thought that was something that needed to be said."