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The Patriots got crushed by “brain drain” on the offensive side of the football when Josh McDaniels took several assistants with him to the Los Vegas Raiders last off-season.
Could the same thing be about to happen on the defensive side soon?
While running down a list of the hottest up-and-coming head coaching candidates in the league, NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero made sure to shout out Patriots inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo as a man that seems primed for a head job soon.
“Still in just his fourth year of coaching, Mayo has taken head coaching interviews with the Eagles (in 2021) and Broncos (in 2022). Before going into coaching, Mayo played eight seasons for Bill Belichick in New England, running the defense and relaying the signals for most of that time, including as a rookie to the veteran likes of Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi and Vince Wilfork. He now serves as de facto coordinator for a Patriots defense that has played well again this season, ranking among the league leaders in sacks and takeaways. Mayo's pedigree and makeup are intriguing,” Pelissero wrote.
As of now, Mayo’s role with the defense appears to be more of a game-planner during the week while Steve Belichick, New England’s outside linebackers coach, calls the defensive plays. But the buzz surrounding Mayo, 36, has gotten louder in the past few seasons, and his status as one of the league’s most recognizable Black assistant coaches will likely net him some interviews regardless of whether he gets a job offer.
But Mayo’s not the only Patriots coach on teams’ radars down the road, Pelissero notes.
Among coaches to watch in “future years” are New England’s tight ends coach Nick Caley, whom many believed was a strong candidate to call offensive plays before Matt Patricia got that responsibility and whom Belichick blocked McDaniels from taking to Vegas.
Two other interesting names to keep an eye on: defensive line coach Demarcus Covington and wide receivers coach/NFL coaching fellow Ross Douglas, who’s only 27.
Covington, in particular, has received tremendous praise from his players for his detail-oriented and player-friendly approach, with Davon Godchaux even saying he’ll be a “great head coach one day.” One could see a scenario in which Mayo, should he get a head-coaching job sooner rather than later, tried to whisk the 33-year-old Covington away for a defensive coordinator job that got Covington started on that path.
On one hand, it’s good to see the Patriots’ coaching tree remain a sought-after one throughout the NFL despite some of the pitfalls experienced by those who have left Foxborough. On the other, New England certainly needs to keep replenishing its coaching ranks after a heavy loss of coaching talent last year and more seemingly on the way.
