The Patriots will introduce Jerod Mayo as their fifteenth head coach in franchise historical past Wednesday throughout an introductory press convention at Gillette Stadium.
If the Patriots comply with press convention precedent, proprietor Robert Kraft will make a gap assertion. Mayo ought to then comply with swimsuit. Once these statements are over, questions will fly. Questions masking Mayo’s teaching workers, the reorganized entrance workplace, obtainable roster expertise, quarterback place and extra.
Taking over a 4-13 workforce leaves Mayo with a to-do checklist so long as the checklist of gamers he tackled over his eight-year taking part in profession. So, what are Mayo’s speedy plans? What are his priorities? And how do the Krafts intend to assist him deliver this imaginative and prescient to life?
Here are six burning questions Mayo and possession ought to face Wednesday:
1. How does Mayo see state of the franchise?
The final time Bill Belichick took questions because the Patriots’ head coach, he used the phrase “reconstruction” to explain the offseason job forward. Do Mayo and the Krafts agree that the workforce should be remade?
Ostensibly, the Patriots are headed for a rebuild. They don’t have any franchise quarterback, scant offensive expertise and a dearth of blue-chip gamers. They’re scheduled to carry the third-most cap house heading into free company, and the No. 3 general decide within the draft.
And but, as dangerous as final season was, there’s a case to be made that a couple of offensive tweaks may have led to a 7-10 or 8-9 end. So, are the Patriots near competing once more for a playoff spot? Or are they as distant as their draft place would point out.
What does Mayo consider?
2. Will you conduct an offensive coordinator search?
Earlier this week, Mayo initiated teaching searches for a brand new defensive coordinator and particular groups coordinator. While it’s unclear whether or not Panthers linebackers coach Tem Lukabu (defensive coordinator) or Falcons particular groups coordinator Marquice Williams are sturdy candidates for these jobs, there’s even much less certainty surrounding the way forward for the offense.
For now, offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien stays underneath contract. Josh McDaniels has been native and could also be angling for a job, be it in his previous position or as an assistant head coach. Mayo may additionally be inclined to go outdoors the Belichick tree, preferring a brand new scheme and training philosophy to jump-start an offense that sunk the Patriots for 2 straight seasons.
If not, O’Brien is more likely to keep in place – until Belichick pulls him away if/when he’s employed to be the top coach of one other workforce.
3. What are you in search of in an offensive coordinator?
OK, let’s say Mayo opens a search.
What sort of offense does Mayo wish to run? What expertise or traits does Mayo worth in an offensive coordinator? Must this OC hail from the Belichick teaching tree? And will he additionally coach quarterbacks, as O’Brien and McDaniels have in latest seasons, which might significantly slender the candidate pool?
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In the occasion of a search, the Patriots should interview one exterior, minority candidate. Last 12 months, Belichick happy the Rooney Rule earlier than it grew to become evident O’Brien was the heavy favourite days earlier than his hiring. But throughout that search, Belichick used his search to collect intel on a future place coach, Adrian Klemm, whom he employed weeks later to guide the Patriots’ offensive line.
If Mayo has already narrowed his selections down, he might deal with this search equally to assist construct his workers.
4. Do you propose on drafting a quarterback?
Don’t anticipate a straight reply on this matter, however given the collective struggles of Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe the previous two years, it is a honest ask.
If Mayo and/or possession says sure, all eyes ought to lock onto the No. 3 decide, the place certainly one of USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye and LSU’s Jayden Daniels will probably be obtainable. At the top of the school season, Daniels compelled his manner into the highest of most mock drafts, the place consultants have projected Williams and Maye to guide off the 2024 draft for months.
Jerod Mayo reportedly affords to maintain Bill Belichick’s sons on Patriots workers
If the Patriots usually are not set on including a rookie, free company or commerce may grow to be their focus, and short-term expectations might change drastically. One instance: in 2017, after hiring coach Sean McDermott, the Bills continued with veteran journeyman Tyrod Taylor and made a shock playoff run earlier than new common supervisor Brandon Beane drafted Josh Allen the next 12 months, when Buffalo’s actual rebuild started.
5. Who can have remaining say over the 53-man roster?
For now, the reply seems to be certainly one of director of participant personnel Matt Groh or director of scouting Eliot Wolf.
Groh continues to guide the entrance workplace, as he has the previous two years, however Wolf’s expertise (16 years in outdoors personnel departments) can’t be ignored. Both of them have been centrally concerned in latest draft courses and free-agent efforts, whereas Belichick had remaining say. Now that Belichick is gone, who will probably be Mayo’s chief associate in rebuilding the Patriots?
6. Will possession be concerned in soccer selections?
The historical past of NFL homeowners inserting themselves into soccer operations with a head coach and common supervisor already in place is a checkered one.
Now, there isn’t a indication Robert Kraft or Jonathan Kraft plan to be extra concerned within the Mayo period than the final 20 years. Only hypothesis. But hiring the league’s youngest head coach might tempt some on the possession degree to intervene in a manner they have been blocked off for twenty-four years with Belichick.
Given the importance of the organizational change and lack of a single chief within the entrance workplace, these new dynamics at 1 Patriot Place bear watching.
Source: www.bostonherald.com