Jerod Mayo has an interesting road ahead as a first-year head coach trying to make a four-win team relevant again.
Speaking with Matt Light during the latest “Eye on Foxborough” podcast, the Patriots Hall of Fame offensive lineman says Mayo will be challenged by the “mountain he has to climb” to get the team back as a playoff contender.
Light outlined all the steps that lie ahead in order for Mayo to succeed.
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“You have to do a lot of things really well right out of the gate,” Light said. “You have to change the culture. You have to change a lot of the guys who were there who weren’t willing to give it everything they had. You’ve got to get rid of those guys, shed some weight, you have to bring in the best talent.
“You have to devise who you are overnight, you have to get this identity and then you have to preach the gospel each and every day and be very disciplined,” he went on. “That’s a tough road. Every coach has to try to do it when they come into the National Football League. It’s why a lot of them don’t make it.”
Light then described some of the other elements involved with being a head coach, and what he’s going to have to deal with in the coming days, months and years.
“You have to deal with all of the other things. Look, the things that are tough on some coaches, dealing with the media, and some of the management stuff. I don’t think that’s going to affect Jerod,” said Light. “I think the football, the X’s and O’s, Jerod has always been a really, really smart football dude. So, I don’t worry about the X’s and O’s, I don’t worry about some of the things where other coaches slip up in terms of the media, and dealing with the management side of it, the business side of it.”
So what worries him about Mayo, or any other coach jumping in to lead a team in 2024?
“It’s the culture side because he has this uphill climb like everyone else, of dealing with the players of today, and the attitudes, and the expectations they come in with,” said Light. “Players of today complain, they become the cancers in the locker room, they demand certain things, and if they don’t get it, they don’t go out there and perform.
“That wasn’t an option for us back in the day. So I think you have to hold these guys accountable, you have to push them, get them to conform, and then you have to be consistent with them, and earn their respect … I love Jerod. I wish him the best in whatever he does. But this is a big task … I think it’s going to be fun to see the decisions he makes, and how he gets this organization back on the right track.”
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