The New England Patriots are in their rebuild era after Bill Belichick’s exit. One of the most important pieces of this rebuild is perhaps the new HC Jerod Mayo, who drew a lot of praise after winning their season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. The win against Joe Burrow’s team served as a reminder of how parts of Belichick are still present in the team.

With that said, Mayo getting the head coaching job was not a fluke. In fact, the team owner, Robert Kraft has been observing the former Patriots linebacker, who piqued his interest in the meetings spearheaded by Bill Belichick. Mayo started his career from scratch when he was the first-round pick in 2008. He retired in 2015 and came back as an inside LB coach in 2019.

Jerod Mayo getting a head coaching job was calculated

Mike Florio and the former Patriots safety Devin McCourty were discussing Mayo’s success in the season opener and talked about the things that led to Mayo’s selection as the HC. “The ability and availability to have a guy that Mr. Kraft was a part of drafting in 2008, he’s got to know Jerod not only as a player but when Jerod walked away from football and retired in 2015, his next job started from a relationship he got and built through Mr. Kraft,” said McCourty on NFL On NBC on YouTube.

The former safety then proceeded to explain how Robert Kraft would observe how “he [Mayo] would react in the meetings,” and often asked Devin McCourty about him. This implied that the Patriots owner was already interested in giving Mayo an inside promotion and cultivate a “homegrown” player into a well-learned coach.

But why Jerod Mayo and not someone else? Well, over the last 4 of the Pats’ seasons, Belichick and Kraft’s relations stood over a cliff. What Jerod Mayo brought to the table was Belichick’s football fundamentals, but without any drama. One of the reasons behind this might also be Belichick and Mayo’s awfully similar career trajectory. Both started as linebacker coaches before they got promoted to a head coaching position.

“That was a unique chance that the Patriots had of having a guy homegrown, that they watch grow up, learn under what they consider the greatest coach of all time, but also be a different person. You see this with the team; they still have the Bill Belichick foundation of fundamentals, hard-nosed, tough football but with a slightly different approach on how Jerod Mayo is,” McCourty later added.

The 16-10 win against Burrow was largely due to defense because Brissett didn’t score a touchdown. The Patriots defense came out with 3 sacks and a crucial fourth down stop that contained Joe Burrow. Mayo’s defense forced Burrow’s offense to go three and out on their first three possessions. Moreover, the Bengals didn’t score a TD till the third quarter and when they did, it was on Zack Moss’ 5-yard TD run. That’s how good the defense was in a nutshell.

It definitely gives off a Bill Belichick vibe, as the Pats showed off a tight defensive scheme. Now that we know Jerod Mayo has it in him to get Patriots the success they need this season or at least give them a glimpse of it, it’s time to find out why the Patriots really fired Bill Belichick.

The reasons behind Bill Belichick’s snub from the Patriots

Apparently, Robert Kraft “felt betrayed” by Bill Belichick and the Patriots finishing their last season on a 4-13 note didn’t do the former Pats HC any favors either. Towards the end of his tenure with Belichick, Robert Kraft had lost trust in him and thought that the 72-year-old coach was being “obstinate, stubborn and arrogant.”

“[Kraft] found Bill to be extremely difficult and obstinate and kind of stubborn and, in the end, not worthy of his trust. And also very, very, very arrogant,” a source told ESPN’s Don Van Natta, Seth Wickersham and Jeremy Fowler. Later, rumors came out that Robert Kraft asked the Falcons owner, Arthur Blank to “not to trust Bill.”

Arthur Blank had invited Belichick to his yacht for an interview that lasted for at least an hour. However, despite things ending on a good note between Blank and Belichick, the former Pats coach didn’t get the job. Moreover, Brady’s exit from the organization and the added burden of finding the next franchise quarterback added more to the “betrayal.”

Things are different now as Jerod Mayo comes to the Patriots with a new energy. It would be interesting to know how far down the line he can carry this energy and maintain a stellar standard for their defense. Hopefully, with Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye in the QB room, the offense will also improve in time. Till then, we can just watch the Patriots saga unfold this season.