How Jerod Mayo Intro Further Distanced Patriots From Bill Belichick

FOXBORO, Mass. — Much was said Wednesday during Jerod Mayo’s first news conference as head coach of the Patriots, but the money line was delivered midway through the event.

“I’m not trying to be Bill,” Mayo told a hoard of reporters.

If there’s one thing we learned over the last week, it’s that the Patriots really hope he keeps that promise.

The Krafts have sent a clear message since showing Bill Belichick the door last Thursday: They believe Belichick, the architect of New England’s six Super Bowl titles, also was the main engineer behind three losing campaigns in the last four seasons.

The Patriots, who reportedly extended offers to Belichick’s sons, likely will keep most of their defensive coaching staff intact. They reportedly will forgo an external general manager search in favor of promoting two internal candidates unless they accompany Belichick to his next destination. They opted against a coaching search because Robert Kraft went on a gut feeling in immediately promoting Mayo. Hell, they might even run it back with Mac Jones, who was among a group of past and current Patriots who attended Mayo’s presser.

Aside from potential changes to the offensive coaching staff, which Belichick failed to inject with rising talent, the Patriots appear content with keeping the majority of their culture and structure in place. In Kraft’s mind, the only place that needed a total reset was the head coach’s office — and the vibes that emanated from it.

That’s not to say there’s been a public smearing of Belichick. Kraft did his best to praise the future Hall of Famer during last week’s production and did so again Wednesday.

“I hired Bill … that worked out pretty well,” Kraft said when asked about the unorthodox decision to rush Mayo’s promotion.

Mayo tried to sing a similar tune. He cracked jokes at his former boss’s expense and shared lessons he learned from Belichick over their many years together. And those remarks seemed genuine.

However, Mayo also made a concerted effort to distance himself from Belichick’s modus operandi.

“Bill is his own man,” Mayo said at one point. “If you can’t tell by now, I’m a little bit different.”

Mayo, who began the presser by revealing a nickname for Kraft, also promised to “break down walls” and “silos.”

“I think you have to evaluate the culture and evaluate how the pieces fit,” he said. “I will say this: My philosophy, I don’t want to be an echo chamber. I just don’t. I want people who are going to be honest and open and hopefully come together and make a sound decision.”

Mayo repeatedly talked about “echo chambers.” He mentioned them so often that there wasn’t a soul who left the event without thinking he was talking about Belichick.

“I want people around me that are going to question my ideas and the way we’ve done things in the past,” he said in what felt like a clear reference to the notoriously stubborn Belichick.

At certain points, there wasn’t even a need for reading between the lines. Mayo put his cards on the table.

“I think titles are important,” Mayo said when asked whether he’d buck a longstanding Belichick trend and name official coordinators. “No knock to coach Belichick, who has been a huge mentor to me … I believe titles are important outward-looking.”

Mayo added: “If you want to continue to get promoted, people have to know exactly what you do.”

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The final impression came after Mayo left the podium and began greeting family and assorted colleagues. In a few minutes, he needed to go to the other end of the room to conduct brief interviews with TV stations.

But Mayo first shook hands with a small group of reporters who cover the team on a regular basis. Some he’d met before; some he hadn’t. Nobody was recording.

Without being prompted, Mayo promised to be different than Belichick when dealing with reporters. He said it’s important to have a “good relationship” with the media. The 37-year-old even assured writers they could publish “negative articles” without fear.

Whether Mayo and the Patriots should be so quick to erase all things Belichick is up for debate. But the franchise clearly was eager for change, and now is embracing it — for better or for worse.