By: Justin Gincauskas

With Bill Belichick and New England parting ways Thursday, the Patriots have decided to hire Jerod Mayo as their next head coach, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 

Mayo, 37, will become the youngest head coach in the NFL. He takes over for Belichick, who has coached the New England Patriots since 2000. Belichick led New England to 17 division titles and six Super Bowl victories during his 24-year tenure with the team.

The Patriots had a plan all along to make Mayo Belichick’s successor. The team will not go through the standard NFL hiring process but, instead, will immediately hire Mayo.

Mayo will be formally introduced as New England’s head coach at a news conference next week.

Mayo has spent his entire professional football career with the Patriots. New England drafted Mayo with the 10th overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. He played 103 regular season games across eight seasons with the team.

Mayo was named AP Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2008. He also made the Pro Bowl twice and was First Team All-Pro in 2010. Mayo won the Super Bowl with the Patriots in 2015. He retired from the NFL in 2016 after his final season with New England.

Jerod Mayo began his coaching career in 2019 when the Patriots decided to hire him to be their inside linebackers coach. He spoke last month about his coaching future and his desire to stay with the New England Patriots organization.

“Hopefully as you guys all know, one day I want to be a head coach,” Mayo said, via CBS News Boston. “Where that is, I don’t know. But at the same time, I would say I have a lot of love for New England. I have a lot of love for the fans, the people around the building. And you know, my family, they love it here as well. So that would be great if I could stay here and continue to progress throughout my career, but we’ll see.”

Mayo will have his work cut out for him. The Patriots finished last in the AFC East with a 4-13 record this season. New England will have the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

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