Patriots

Jerod Mayo admits he hasn’t had any ‘communication’ with Bill Belichick

"It’s a different era and a different time, and hopefully we can have that same success.”

Jerod Mayo served on Bill Belichick's coaching staff for five seasons. Mark Brown/Getty Images

July 30, 2024

Jerod Mayo is sailing into uncharted waters in his first season as the Patriots’ head coach.

And it doesn’t appear as though he’s receiving any tips along the way from his former coach, Bill Belichick.

Belichick and Mayo have a lengthy history together, with Belichick selecting the talented linebacker with the 10th pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. Mayo played eight seasons with the Patriots, before later joining Belichick’s staff as a coach in March 2019.

But after Belichick’s tenure in New England ended in January after 24 seasons with the team, it doesn’t appear as though the future Hall of Famer is particularly inclined to help out the coach who replaced him in Foxborough.

Speaking on the “Up & Adams” show on Monday from the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium, Mayo was asked whether Belichick had reached out to him since taking over his former post in New England.

“That’s a tough question,” Mayo told Kay Adams. “We haven’t had a lot of communication since I’ve been here. I learned a lot from Bill, I honestly did — X’s and O’s and also structure in practice and things like that. But, like I said, it’s a different era and a different time, and hopefully we can have that same success.”

Has Bill Belichick reached out to new #Patriots HC Jerod Mayo since he got the gig? 🔊

"We haven't had a lot of communication. I learned a lot from Bill… but it's a different time, it's a different era and hopefully we can have that same success." @jerod_mayo51 @heykayadams pic.twitter.com/DkMNpzQJlc
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) July 29, 2024

Considering Belichick’s resume and his looming influence over the Patriots organization for over two decades, it should come as little surprise for there to be some time for adjustments now that Mayo has taken the reins in New England.

Shortly after being named as New England’s new head coach in January, Mayo stressed that he wanted to leave his own impact with the Patriots, rather than implement a carbon copy of Belichick’s approach from the sideline.

“For me, I’m not trying to be Bill,” said Mayo. “I think that Bill is his own man. If you can’t tell by now, I’m a little bit different even up here. But what I will say is the more I think about lessons I’ve taken from Bill, hard work works. Hard work works, and that’s what we’re all about.”

Even though Mayo is looking to augment New England’s culture and approach from the Belichick era, he has stressed on multiple occasions that any changes should not be viewed as a slight against the way things were run during Belichick’s tenure.

“Look, it’s going to be different, but at the same time, I would say Bill did a great job for a long period of time,” Mayo told Patriots reporters in February at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I don’t want you guys to take this as because we’re changing as shots toward the previous regime. And saying that, we will do it differently. And it’ll feel different.

“But at the end of the day, we would like to replicate the success that the prior regime has had,” Mayo added. “So, I learned a lot from Bill and also his staff, but now we’ll see what this chapter looks like.”