New Patriots Assistant Seemingly Fits Jerod Mayo’s Criteria Perfectly

The New England Patriots on Wednesday reportedly hired Jeremy Springer as their special teams coach, filling the second of three open coordinator positions under Jerod Mayo.

Springer’s addition to the staff seemingly checks a lot of boxes for Mayo, as well.

It was made abundantly clear in Mayo’s introductory press conference that he wanted to hire coaches who could build relationships with players. He wants “developers” who can relate to players and bring positive energy into the building.

That sounds a lot like what Springer wants to do.

“I want guys to come out there and have fun with it. I don’t want to be that stagnant group where people are quiet and don’t want to be here. I want to make it fun for them,” Springer said prior to joining the Arizona Wildcats in 2018, per Tucson.com. “A lot of guys don’t come here to play special teams. Let’s just be honest. They come here to play offense and defense. Maybe they were the best player at their high school.

“They come here, they’ve gotta make a role for themselves. I try to make them get involved a little more. Through my presentations, through my actions every day, I want to make it fun for the guys.”

It’s impossible to compare NCAA and NFL locker rooms, but there’s no doubt the idea of making the workplace more fun is one that players will be into. Cam Achord and Joe Judge, the Patriots’ last two special teams coordinators, weren’t exactly known for their interpersonal skills.

Springer spent the last two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, serving as their special teams assistant following eight seasons as a collegiate coach. He coached at Marshall, Arizona and Texas A&M, after a playing career at UTEP.

There’s been some mention of the Rams’ dreadful finish on special teams last season, but until anyone can directly correlate that to coaching and not personnel, we’ll take it with a grain of salt. There’s no way of knowing whether or not Springer was the right choice until we see that unit in action next season, but there’s no doubt his personality fits what New England is looking for as it enters the unknown.