No games will be played this wintry January day at Gillette Stadium, but make no mistake there is still plenty at stake when Jerod Mayo is officially announced as the 15th head coach in Patriots history at noon in Foxborough.
Mayo will obviously not be making his first impression on the gathered media or, by extension, Patriot Nation. He did that for eight seasons as a player and five years as an assistant coach, including regular chats with reporters in recent years as one of the leaders of the New England defense.
But, whatever number impression this will be for Mayo on the masses, it had better be a freakin’ good one.
An introductory press conference sets the early tone and tenor for a head coach tenure. That’s even more important for the situation that Mayo finds himself in.
Mayo is simultaneously in the enviable position of taking the helm of one of the premier organizations in the NFL as well as the unenviably spot of replacing the most accomplished coach in this or any team’s history, Bill Belichick.
He also is becoming the face and mouthpiece for a team that currently faces reports and critiques of being dysfunctional, void of leadership and behind the times in terms of organizational structure.
We know who Mayo the first-round pick and All-Pro linebacker was.
We know who the linebackers coach and de facto co-defensive coordinator was.
But who is Mayo the head coach and what does he stand for? That first step in building the philosophical leadership persona begins today.
For better or worse what Mayo says today at the newly-built GP Atrium and even how he says it will be seen as the new Patriot Way in the coming days, weeks and months of one of the most notable, critical and franchise-altering offseasons in this or any team’s history.
No pressure, Coach Mayo, but the reviews of and reactions to today’s press conference could be a key first step in your time as now the highest ranking member of the Patriots organization not named Kraft. This isn’t your first impression, but it certainly could be your most important one.
Right now there are rightfully questions about Mayo’s coaching staff, whether the Patriots will or won’t hire a GM on the road toward the No.
3 overall pick and spending some $80-plus million in cap space, what the Kraft family’s role will be moving forward and a culture behind that scenes that seemingly has more loose lips than any sinking ship we’ve seen in these parts in a long time.
Mayo has to answer those now. Today. In the best way he can.
Mayo needs to be himself, but the new head coach version of himself and not necessarily the middle linebacker or affable assistant coach we’ve all known and respected.
He can’t try too hard to be like Belichick. That won’t work. Certainly hasn’t for past Hoodie assistants-turned-head coaches.
He also can’t try too hard to no be like Belichick. Can’t be too open. Too modern. Too youthful. Too new-age.
That would probably be a bit too much.
Mayo needs to find the middle ground on honestly answering questions and setting the foundation for future and once-again football success in New England.
He needs to learn from press conference failures by the likes of Joe Judge’s ill-received hardo huff-fest when he took over the Giants. Or Adam Gase’s taco-chasing meme crazy eyes with the Jets.
A bad first presser doesn’t definitely or necessarily derail a coach. Nick Sirianni could not have been more nervous or less convincing when he arrived in Philly and he had his Eagles in the Super Bowl less than two years later, even if he’s fallen on tougher times of late.
Certainly Dan Campbell may be the modern example of being true to yourself and your views when he arrived in Detroit and now his Lions have arrived as Super Bowl contenders built and playing in his way.
There will be more important points on the Patriots’ rebuild timeline this offseason than Mayo’s opening press conference. That will include the execution of a plan in free agency flush with cash to spend. It will certainly pivot on what happens with the No. 3 pick come April.
But do not dismiss today’s press conference as some photo-op or formality.
Today is the first big day of Mayo’s career as the head coach in New England, as the guy replacing Belichick.
Today is a massive first step for Mayo and the Patriots. All he can do right now is talk the talk months before he and his team will try to walk the walk into a new era of New England football.
The 37-year-old Mayo is indeed now the fresh face and singular football voice of the Patriots. Today, he needs to nail his first chance to look and sound like it.