Jerod Mayo’s Patriots

Evaluating Jerod Mayo’s success thus far as the head coach of the New England Patriots

Finn Konary, 12/8/24

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A year ago Bill Belichick had the New England Patriots at 3-10 through 14 weeks, now one year later Jerod Mayo has the Patriots in the exact same position. The new Patriots head coach has endured many ups and downs through his first year. He was put in the difficult position of having to turn things around just a year after the disastrous 2023 season with virtually the same roster. Not to mention it's also his first year as a head coach, as he was previously the linebackers coach for the Patriots. One of the most important things successful head coaches do in today’s NFL is establish a team culture . The culture Mayo wanted to bring to the Patriots was based around fostering player’s personal growth, which he sums up himself by saying, “It's about developing people” . Jerod Mayo had a tough job and rebuilding the Patriots with a new culture may take multiple years, however, the first time head coach has failed to make any significant progress in establishing a new culture and because of this the Patriots are in the exact same place as last year.

While the responsibility of developing players does not fall to any one person, Jerod Mayo has arguably done a poor job on the developmental front this season. One prime example of this is the Patriots’ selections at the wide receiver position in this year's draft. New England selected Ja’lynn Polk with the 37th overall pick. The young receiver has had a disastrous rookie season so far with only 12 receptions for 87 yards and 2 touchdowns . While Polk may not have been ready for the NFL stage, Mayo and his coaching staff have the responsibility to develop their young players and Polk has not shown much improvement at all. Additionally, Polk has accumulated four different penalties during the season including a false start on a crucial fourth-down play in the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Rams, a game the Patriots would end up losing 22-26. Aside from budding rookie quarterback Drake Maye, Mayo has not done a good job so far disciplining his players and making sure they are prepared for gameday.

Penalties are momentum killers in the sport of football, crucial defensive stops are spoiled and big game changing plays are called back due to penalties.With such dire consequences for preventable actions, it falls on the coaching staff to ensure that their team is disciplined and prepared for each game. While the Patriots have had many offensive line injuries meaning they can’t consistently field a cohesive unit from week to week, the Patriots are still the ninth most penalized team in the NFL with 88 penalties through 13 games. Last season under Bill Belichick the Patriots had just 89 penalties through their 17 games. While it’s easy to put the blame on injuries, the responsibility that rests on the head coach can’t be ignored. There is clearly an issue of discipline and a lack of preparation on the Patriots this year that is the fault of Jerod Mayo.

It’s still his first year, and Mayo has undoubtedly learned and grown as a coach. However, he still has a lot of work to do around building a culture, and that has to happen sooner rather than later.