Phil Perry makes a case for the Patriots to draft a QB despite picking at number 3, and offers some NFL comps for Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye.
During his first official press conference as New England Patriots head coach, Jerod Mayo made it a point to distance himself from the legendary Bill Belichick.
“I’m not trying to be Bill," Mayo told reporters. "Bill is his own man. If you can’t tell by now, I’m a little bit different. But what I will say is, the more I think about lessons I’ve taken from Bill, hard work works. And that’s what we’re all about.”
That was a clear statement that this is the start of a new era in Foxboro. The football operation will be run differently than it has been for the last 24 years. Of course, Mayo will take some of the lessons he learned from Belichick and put them to use under his regime.
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How exactly do Mayo and Belichick's leadership styles differ? Where will we see hints of Belichick's influence in Mayo? Our Phil Perry shared his thoughts on a new episode of the Next Pats Podcast.
🔊 Next Pats: Jerod Mayo 1-on-1: Imposter syndrome, calling plays and finding an OC | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
"Bill Belichick could communicate in a way that he was the arbiter of all information. Everything went through Bill Belichick," Perry said. "He was a one-man super computer when it came to football operations and where everyone was, what their timelines were, how their calendars looked, the information that needed to be coming in and maybe at times going out. ... He was able to keep all of that straight.
"Mayo wants help. I think that's one major difference here is he is looking for help. He acknowledges that he needs help in a way that Bill Belichick didn't feel like he did. That's going to be one major, major difference."
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While Mayo aims to be more collaborative, the former Pats linebacker is looking for the same qualities in his players that his predecessor valued.
"Smart, tough, disciplined. Those have been three adjectives that Bill Belichick has used to describe his ideal football team for a long, long time," Perry said.
"That might be the closest to the bone that anybody gets, at least at this stage in Jerod Mayo's head-coaching tenure, as to what his football philosophy is, or what he's looking for, or what his team is truly about. What characteristics he's going to value, put a premium on. Smart, tough, disciplined. That's Bill Belichick speaking through Jerod Mayo at the press conference."
The 2024 season will mark Mayo's first as a head coach, so it remains to be seen how he'll lead in his new role. According to some within the organization, we can expect a noticeable boost in two specific areas with Mayo replacing Belichick.
"I've talked to a number of people on the personnel side for the Patriots that are still here and asked them before this transition was made how it might look if and when Jerod Mayo was named head coach," Perry said. "Collaboration, transparency, everyone was expecting more of those things with Jerod Mayo in that seat that Bill Belichick has occupied for so many years."
Also in the episode:
- Takeaways from Jerod Mayo’s introductory press conference
- Perry's 1-on-1 with Jerod Mayo.
- Searching for a defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator
