1 – Thanks to eight years playing linebacker for Bill Belichick and another five coaching the position under his hooded former boss, new Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo would probably be considered a young, developing defensive expert.
That’s good news for that side of the ball in New England, which has indeed been the strength of the team in recent years.
But there is far more focus, frustration and trepidation when it comes to the Patriots’ offense, an area that not only seems to need a significant injection of talent but also potential coaching and scheme changes.
With Bill O’Brien moving on to become the Ohio State offensive coordinator this week, the door to a possible offensive overhaul at Gillette Stadium appears to be wide open.
Yet in the early stages of Mayo’s tenure, there’s been little reported movement in that area. While there have been reports of various interviews with candidates for roles on the defensive and special teams coaching staffs, all has been quiet on the offensive front.
Sure there’s been outside speculation that Josh McDaniels might return yet again to the home of his only real significant NFL success. Or that former Seattle offensive coordinator Shane Waldron might return to New England, where he was a tight ends coach more than a decade ago. Or that another former tight ends coach, Nick Caley, might be an option after a year getting indoctrinated into the Sean McVay scheme in Los Angeles.
But it’s all outside speculation. So far there’s been no movement. And that has to be mildly concerning for anyone hoping for significant change, growth and improvement in the New England offense.
Sure the Patriots need an upgrade at quarterback. And wide receiver. And on the offensive line. Those are personnel changes that can’t come until March and April.
But right now, the foundation of the future of the New England offense is what’s in question in terms of coaching and scheme.
And as of yet, all seems to be too quiet on the front. It’s time for Mayo – and whoever else is making coaching staff hires and decisions in New England – to go on the offensive to try to improve on what has been the team’s biggest area of weakness since some guy named Brady left town.
2 – Bill Belichick clearly wants to be a head coach in the NFL in 2024, something he and Robert Kraft made quite clear when they announced they’d decided to “part ways.”
And Belichick has indeed reportedly had multiple interviews with the Falcons about their open head coaching job.
But it apparently isn’t a slam dunk for Belichick in Atlanta, as the team continues to go through a larger interviews process that reportedly has included or will include Mike Vrabel, Jim Harbaugh and even Bills’ OC Joe Brady. (Insert your own Belichick vs. Brady jokes here!)
If Belichick doesn’t get the Atlanta job, is there actually a chance that arguably the greatest coach in NFL history can’t find a job? It’s hard to fathom and it’s still pretty early in the process, but that unexpected reality feels more realistic by the day with teams like Dallas and Philly seemingly sticking with their current coaches and others like the Chargers, Commanders and Panthers apparently not having interest in Belichick.
It’s hard to envision Belichick being left without a seat when the music stops on this offseason’s game of musical coaching chairs concludes, but also doesn’t feel totally out of the question at this point.
3 – While the personnel, coaching and scheme of the Patriots offense remain quite questionable, New England should have stability in all three areas on defense in 2024. Key cogs like Matthew Judon, Christian Barmore, Ja’Whaun Bentley and Christian Gonzalez will return on the field. Mayo’s presence means there will be coaching continuity, which could trickle down the defensive staff with the potential for key assistants Steve Belichick and Demarcus Covington to remain in New England. If Steve Belichick were to move on with his father, Covington has to be considered the top internal candidate for promotion to defensive coordinator. Covington has been in New England for seven years, the last four leading a defensive line unit that’s been the foundation of the defense. He has a strong relationship with his players and is clearly a rising star. With Mayo’s expanded duties, keeping Covington in the mix with an increased role would seem to be a smart option for New England.
4 – Mayo did make it quite clear in his introductory press conference that he does believe in job titles in a way that his former boss did not. It would certainly seem a safe bet that not only does Mayo name coordinators in a titular sense in all three phases of the game, it wouldn’t be surprising if he lists a larger coaching staff with more defined roles than his predecessor.
That said, Mayo maintains the “do your job” philosophy that’s a holdover from two decades of success, the change being that he’ll let the outside world know what that job actually is.
“I think titles are important, and I know -- no knock to Coach Belichick who has been a huge mentor to me over the years as a player and as a colleague, what I would say is I believe titles are important outward-looking, but as far as in the building, I don't care what your title is,” Mayo explained. “It's what's your job, what value do you bring to the organization. I think that's the most important thing. Sometimes I think in business, in sports, people get caught up in titles, but I also understand the other side. If you want to continue to get promoted, people have to know exactly what you do.
5 – More than three months remain before the Patriots will actually have to make the critical No. 3 overall selection in April’s draft. But, according to some, Mayo may have already tipped his hand as to what New England will do on draft night.
Asked about the pick in a one-on-one interview with WBZ-TV, Mayo’s response had many declaring and proclaiming that the Patriots will indeed be taking a quarterback early in the first round.
“What I will say is this. We are going to draft the best player for a position that is very important. You put the pieces together," Mayo said.
This seems to be a case of people not only hearing what they want to hear, but also putting too much stock in a playful answer from a man who’s far more talkative with the media than we’re used to in New England.
Most think the three realistic options for the Patriots at No. 3 would be a quarterback, wide receiver or offensive tackle. All three are “very important” positions in the NFL. All three are key needs for the Patriots.
And, actually, if Mayo and Co. were going to take “the best player” at a “very important” position it couldn’t be at quarterback, which is likely to see the two best players go off the draft board in the first two picks.
Regardless, we probably need to take a step back from our speculation and over analysis of this single quote or the many tea leaves that will be misread over the next three months leading up to the draft.
6 – Sunday evening’s divisional round playoff game between the Chiefs and Bills in Buffalo is a reminder of everything the Patriots aren’t right now and everything that New England used to be.
Thanks to the arrival of true franchise QB Josh Allen in Buffalo, the Bills have now won four-straight AFC East crowns on the heels of two decades that saw the Patriots win 11 straight and 16 of 17 overall. Allen has made the Bills the team to beat in the division and a legitimate annual Super Bowl contender, a role formerly held by Tom Brady’s squad in New England.
Meanwhile Patrick Mahomes, the closest thing the NFL has to Brady these days, is on the road for a playoff game for the first time in his career as he looks to reach the AFC title game for the sixth straight year. That comes on the heels of a run in which Brady’s Patriots went to eight straight conference title games.
The Bills and Chiefs are the measuring sticks in the AFC East and AFC right now. (With Joe Burrow’s Bengals certainly in the conversation when he’s healthy and Lamar Jackson’s Ravens building some special in Baltimore.) As Mayo begins the turnaround and rebuild in New England he can turn his TV on for Sunday evening’s playoff battle in Buffalo to see exactly where he wants to get New England to and exactly who he and his team will likely have to go through to get there.
7 – If there is one player on the New England roster fans are counting on to be a foundational piece for the short and long term future in Foxborough, it’s the second-year former first-round cornerback Gonzalez. The No. 17 overall pick out of Oregon only played in three-plus games as a rookie, but he showed enough to make many believe he can and will be one of the best the NFL has to offer. The September rookie of the month landed on IR after just four games, needing surgery to repair a reported torn labrum. Now, though, Gonzalez is getting back to health and based on Instagram has as much faith in himself as his fans seem to have in him. Gonzalez shared a video from his rehab work on Instagram and wrote, “It’s bout to get REAL. Yr2…” Gonzalez’ return should be one of the many things that Patriots fans have to look forward to in 2024, he and Judon getting back on the field for a defense that once again will be expected to be the backbone of a team looking to bounce back from another losing season.