Jerod Mayo new Patriots linebackers coach
- Thread starter jsinger121
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How does Curran feel about this?
I was told the brain drain was insurmountable.
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I was told the brain drain was insurmountable.
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I am irrationally excited about this - I love the guy. He didn't live up to the hype as a player and had an unfortunate run of injuries, but I've always liked him - his enthusiasm, attitude, etc.
I've never heard BB talk about a player the way he talked about Mayo after one of the playoff wins a few years ago. At one of the post-game press conferences (may have even been the next day) someone asked about Mayo being on the sidelines during the game (Mayo had gone on IR earlier in the season with an injury). BB just went on and on, how Mayo was back at practice every day after the surgery, helping guys get ready, watching film, pointing out plays, etc. Used the phrase "like an extra coach out there" 3 or 4 times. The respect that he had for Mayo came through so clearly. I love Mayo on the podcast, sad to see him go. I hope he has immense success as a coach.
He may not have lived up to the hype, but he was a damn solid player when he was healthy. He was a very important member of the defense.
Belichick’s ode to Mayo at the 2016 owners meetings are worth revisiting.
"I'll start out this morning, first of all, to talk about Jerod Mayo," Belichick said. "There have been very few players in my career that I've had the opportunity to coach that I'd say had more of an impact on a team than Jerod has from day one, which is unusual."
"From the first day he walked in the facility, which was his pre-draft visit, after we drafted him in 2008, he's been a pleasure to coach, a great addition to our team, both on and off the field," Belichick continued. "I'm sure I learned a lot more from him than he did from me. Jerod, (Mayo’s wife, Chantel) and their family brought a special glow to our team, to our organization. Although Jerod will always be part of the team and is always welcome, he'll be missed on a daily basis, the attitude, work ethic and love of football that he brought was special. He was very special.”
Right, he was solid, he just rarely made big plays. Not unlike say DMC in the secondary where his presence is hugely important even if he's not making huge plays.
Edit: and of course he also had the misfortune (in addition to injuries) of playing on some truly horrible defenses
If you got to draft coaching prospects from among ex-players, Mayo would have been in the Vrabel portion of the draft, right near the top. Great pick-up by BB, and it doesn't even cost cap space!
From the coaching thread in February:
SMART FELLAS HERE.
I"m a little surprised he's coming back--he's pretty blunt on the Curran podcast about how demanding the job is and he seems interested in other things. I do think he'll be great; if he wants to be I see him following the vrabel path and becoming a head coach for an NFL team of major college program in 5-7 years.
I also think folks are seriously underestimating him as a player. His career was a little shorter than it should have been due to injuries but those first five years he was outstanding. He was an all-pro, a multi time pro bowler, he led the league in tackles. He didn't have giant sack or pick numbers but he was a middle linebacker so it would be weird if he did. And he made a ton of huge plays--a great tackle for a three yard gain on a third and five is a game changer and he had a ton of plays like that.
I also think folks are seriously underestimating him as a player. His career was a little shorter than it should have been due to injuries but those first five years he was outstanding. He was an all-pro, a multi time pro bowler, he led the league in tackles. He didn't have giant sack or pick numbers but he was a middle linebacker so it would be weird if he did. And he made a ton of huge plays--a great tackle for a three yard gain on a third and five is a game changer and he had a ton of plays like that.
It's pretty unusual to see a guy who has tens of millions of dollars in the bank go work 80+-hour weeks for five figures. Mayo must really love it. FWIW I have seen conflicting reports about whether he has been hired as a linebackers coach or an assistant. Assistant would be more typical of how the Patriots operate - even Brendan Daly was hired as an assistant even though he'd already worked as a DL coach. LB coach is usually the #2 guy on D, so that would be a Vrabelesque fast track. It's good timing, too - with Patricia, Flores, Daly, and Boyer all leaving, there's no obvious "next man up." It wouldn't be shocking if Schiano gets a college HC gig in 2-3 years and Mayo is next in line, though sometimes ex-players get pigeon-holed as positional coaches rather than X's and O's guys (for instance, Pepper Johnson)
Agree with this. He was really good. He just couldn't stay healthy after he signed the big extension.
Absolutely. I think people sometimes don't realize just how few splash plays (FFs, INTs, sacks) middle linebackers are in position to make. Even a guy like Luke Kuechly, a consensus top player at his position and possibly even a Hall of Famer one day, has never had more than 2 FF in a season, has been over 2 sacks only once, and has averaged only about 2 picks a year. Mayo wasn't on his level (and didn't have nearly the same production in terms of picks) but his low number of splash plays shouldn't be held against him because that wasn't his job.
Forced fumbles are basically a function of sacks anyway. ~14% of sacks end in fumbles, only ~1.2ish% of other run / pass plays. So if you're not asked to blitz much, you're not going to get many sacks, and you're not going to force many fumbles.