When Jerod Mayo took over as head coach of the New England Patriots a year ago, there were many questions about how he planned to assemble his staff after spending his entire playing and coaching career in New England.
He did not appear to have many connections with coaches who did not have ties to the Patriots, so some members of Bill Belichick’s staff from the previous year stayed on to help, including DeMarcus Covington, whom Mayo promoted from defensive line coach to defensive coordinator.
The year before, Mayo and Bill’s son, Steve, essentially shared defensive coordinator duties, with the younger Belichick calling the team’s plays. It would have made sense to keep him in that role and give him the full title, but Mayo reportedly offered him a demotion instead, according to The Athletic’s Chad Graff.
“Even though Steve Belichick, Bill’s son, had been the Patriots’ defensive play caller in recent years while they routinely boasted top-10 units, Mayo did not offer him the chance to continue calling plays, according to a team source, opting instead for young defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington,” Graff said. “Mayo offered Steve a lesser role, but the younger Belichick declined and left to become the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington.”
Last August, Belichick stated that he was not eager to leave New England, but it is clear why he chose to leave for the college game. In this case, he could have stayed on as the team’s outside linebackers coach, but losing play-calling duties would have been a step back, and why would he want that, especially given how well his defense performed in 2023?
Instead, Covington took over, the Patriots’ defense faltered, and Mayo was fired after only one season. And, while owner Robert Kraft did not put the head coach in the best possible situation, he did not do himself any favors with his staff.
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