Why Patriots Great Thinks Jerod Mayo Will Succeed As Head Coach

The New England Patriots are entering a new era after parting ways with Bill Belichick last week and tapping Jerod Mayo as Belichick’s successor.

Mayo, who is the youngest head coach in the NFL at 37 years old, is unproven, having entered the NFL coaching ranks in 2019 before making a rapid climb to the helm of the Patriots. But those who personally know Mayo believe he is well suited to lead the Patriots as a first-time head coach.

After getting drafted by New England in 2014, James White played two seasons with Mayo and also saw how Mayo performed as a coach over White’s final three seasons with the franchise before an injury forced him into an early retirement.

With that first-hand knowledge, White sees Mayo having the right coaching qualities to succeed in this new venture.

“(He’s) very vocal, very loud, very energetic,” White said on “Off The Pike with Brian Barrett” podcast Sunday. “He’s a guy who can communicate with every single person on the team in the locker room, coaching staff and he knows the game of football. That’s one of the best traits that he had as a player. He was very smart, very knowledgeable.”

While White praised Mayo’s football acumen, he doesn’t view it as Mayo’s greatest strength. Instead, White thinks Mayo’s interpersonal skills will allow him to connect to the players in the locker room, especially the younger generation.

“He’s great with people,” White said. “I think as a coach, you got to be great with people, especially in this day and age. The kids that are coming in now are very different. It started to taper off probably the last three, four, five years. The kids coming into the NFL, they handle things a lot differently.

“I think he’s a guy who can embrace that. Like I said, he can communicate with a lot of different guys. He knows how to get guys going, whether it’s him being loud and happy or whether it’s him being loud and getting on people. I think he can find that good, common ground. He’s a younger guy, still in his 30s, like myself. I think he’s a great guy for this job.”