FOXBOROUGH – Imagine getting your first coaching gig leading an NFL team and expectations are so low, so dire, that the prospect of a zero-win season is on the table.
Imagine inheriting a team that scored just 13.9 points per game last season, tied for the worst in the NFL, in an offense-driven league.
Welcome to Jerod Mayo’s world. He’s landed a job where failure almost seems inevitable.
How can a first-year head coach, who is taking over for a legendary coach, perform what amounts to a miracle in his rookie season?
That, in a nutshell, is Mayo’s assignment as the season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals has finally arrived. He’s taking over for six-time Super Bowl-winning coach and current NFL analyst extraordinaire Bill Belichick without much to hang his hat on.
Mayo enters Week 1 with a journeyman backup starting at quarterback. He has an offensive line that’s been a train wreck with no signs of life at the end of that tunnel. He has a team that lacks the playmakers and difference-makers needed to win on a regular basis. And, defensively, Matthew Judon, arguably his best player, was traded, while Christian Barmore, a rising star, could be lost for the season due to blood clots.
Sound like a formula for success?
Perhaps not, but Mayo has embraced the challenge.
“I feel like I’m built for this,” the Patriots coach said Friday. “I feel like I’m walking in my calling”
While he’s already had some missteps along the ride – sending mixed messages with regard to his starting quarterback just to name one – the slate has been wiped clean, and the real grading starts now.
As Mayo knows, coaches are measured by wins and losses. They’re measured by playoff appearances and success or failure in the post-season. Asked what he would consider a successful first season, Mayo pointed to incremental progress.
“I really don’t want to focus too far down the line,” Mayo said. “What I will say is the team that you see this week, you want to see the team get better each and every week and playing our best football in December.”
The mood in the locker room Friday was upbeat, which is always a good sign on game week. More importantly, the players’ feedback about how the head coach prepared them for the favored Bengals was incredibly positive.
Mayo, who isn’t fond of being labeled a “player’s coach” was tough on the group in training camp. He held more padded practices than the norm, and had defenders tackling ball carriers to the ground. Conditioning was also stressed, as he had players running during practices and then following the workout on Belichick’s famous hill.
He wants a tough, hard-nosed, resilient team.
And the players have bought in.
“He’s very prepared. I got faith in him. I believe in him,” running back Antonio Gibson said Friday. “Just being relatable to the players is a major thing. I feel like that right there goes a long way. You get that respect from the players. He’s been on that side. So he understands … he gets it.”
Gibson told a funny story of how when he first arrived in Foxborough, he found himself in the cafeteria having lunch with his daughter and a “stranger.” They chatted for quite some time without Gibson realizing he was speaking with Mayo.
“He’s just so relatable. He’s younger – he was talking to us like a normal guy,” Gibson said. “Then he took my daughter back to the (locker) room, and I’m thinking, ‘Damn, I was talking to the head coach the whole time.’ That kind of blew me away. But he’s a real down-to-earth guy. But at the same, he’s all about business.”
Players who were here during the Belichick regime have mentioned the new vibe in the locker room. Tension and uneasiness has been replaced by comfort and calm. That’s all well and good as long as it translates into wins on the field.
So the real judgment of Mayo, whose speciality is defense, is about to commence.
How will he handle in-game adjustments? Will he be as shrewd as Belichick plotting and scheming to shut down quarterbacks and their respective attacks? Will his team be smart and disciplined?
And, how will he handle the adversity associated with losing?
Defensive tackle Davon Godchaux, who received a contract extension during camp, echoed Gibson saying the players trust that Mayo has them on the right course.
“He coached under Bill. He knows every situation. He’s prepared. He’s prepared for this opportunity … I’m excited,” Godchaux said. “I think everybody in the locker room is excited to go to Cincinnati and compete and try to get a win.
“We just gotta get things rolling as a team. Once we do that, sky’s the limit, we can do anything no matter what anybody says about the talent on this team. So we’re excited for this matchup. I like our chances. I think the guys on defense are ready to play, ready to compete, ready to get after it.”
Week 1 has arrived. They’re on to Cincinnati.
