Jerod Mayo. Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Patriots have Bill Belichick's successor in mind?

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 7/28/23

Do the New England Patriots have a coach-in-waiting? That’s what some reporters appear to believe.

Patriots insider Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston was a guest on “The Rich Eisen Show” recently and talked about the team’s coaching situation. Curran said that Bill Belichick has been on a hot seat of varying warmth since 2019, which was Tom Brady’s final year with the team.

Curran then mentioned Jerod Mayo and said he feels like Mayo is the likely next coach of the Patriots.

“My sense is [the next coach is] probably Jerod Mayo. He’s very important to the Krafts. They released a statement at the beginning of the offseason that this team was working towards an extension with him. The team never releases any information about any extension, much less an assistant coach. So I think it’s important for the Krafts and Mayo that it be out there that it’s apparent that he is next in line to be a head coach in the NFL in the place that he played,” Curran said, referencing Robert and Jonathan Kraft, who own and lead the Patriots.

The team made an unprecedented move when they released a statement in January announcing a contract extension with Mayo. The statement indicated to many just how highly the team thinks of Mayo.

@tomecurran

“He’s been there with different levels I’d warmth since 2019.”

The @NBCSBoston #Patriots insider told us if this could really be Bill Belichick’s final year in New England:#NFL pic.twitter.com/VxoT5PPGJM

— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) July 17, 2023

Curran is not alone in his feelings.

In an article published earlier this month, the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin said the Patriots likely view Mayo as the team’s coach-in-waiting.

“Robert Kraft already made it clear in March that he wants the Patriots to make the postseason and win a playoff game for the first time in five years,” Volin wrote.

“He also paid Jerod Mayo handsomely to keep him off the coaching market and likely views him as the team’s coach-in-waiting. And Belichick’s friends have privately said they are worried that he is on the hot seat in 2023.”

This all meshes with what Robert Kraft said in March about Mayo’s potential.

Mayo was a star linebacker for the Patriots from 2008-2015, making two Pro Bowls. He has serves as an inside linebackers coach with the team since 2019.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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