After the Patriots and Bill Belichick parted ways in January and hired Jerod Mayo as his replacement, Steve Belichick left New England to become the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington.
After Belichick explained why he left the Patriots in favor of the new opportunity when he appeared on Friday's episode of the "Green Light" podcast with Chris Long, he endorsed Mayo as the new head coach.
"I'm super excited for Jerod," Belichick told Long. "I think he is ready for this. I think it was his time, and I think he's a great motivator and he's a great teacher. Those are two qualities for a head coach. ... At the end of the day, when you're in the building you want that brotherhood. You want that camaraderie, and he definitely brings that to that organization."
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Belichick explained he got close with Mayo when the former linebacker was on injured reserve in the 2013 and 2014 NFL seasons and was interested in Belichick's coaching roles with the Patriots. He remembered his relationship with Mayo started to deepen when the Super Bowl XLIX champion joined New England's coaching staff in 2019.
"The following year we started coaching linebackers together, and we just had a really close relationship in New England," Belichick said. "... We moved to the linebacker room and made it a place people could come and do what they wanted to do. You know, get away from the building without leaving the building. … We became so close these last few years."
Even without Bill or Steve, the Patriots will still have one Belichick on the coaching staff. Brian Belichick decided to return to New England for the upcoming season as the safeties coach,
Featured image via Eric Canha/USA TODAY Sports Images
