FOXBOROUGH — When making the most important decisions of his life, Patriots owner Robert Kraft has relied on his gut.
He’s trusted his instincts when it came to picking a spouse. He stood by his intuition when he surrendered a first-round pick to the New York Jets to land Bill Belichick as his head coach in 2000.
And he withstood the initial slings and arrows from people questioning his sanity over giving up draft capital for an unproven coach.
That scenario has played out again with Jerod Mayo, who he chose to succeed the six-time Super Bowl-winning coach.
Why would he choose to have an inexperienced coach follow a legend? Why did he go with Mayo, who readily admits he’s learning on the job with Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals on tap?
In short, Kraft’s instincts have rarely failed him. Not in love, and not in business.
“What I’ve learned in my businesses, and my career, I go with my instinct. I try to see things that other people don’t see and have the courage to live up to my convictions. I’m always thinking what’s the right thing for the long term,” Kraft told MassLive Wednesday. “The most important decisions of my life are judgments I make. I go with my instincts and my notes. Whether it’s the women I marry, or the head coaches I choose.”
What kind of notes had he kept on Mayo?
Over time, Kraft had put together quite the book on the new Patriots coach. From his observations of Mayo as a player, as a businessman and then an assistant coach, he’s kept track.
Then came the trip to Israel in 2019. Mayo and other current and former Patriots went with Kraft to Israel, and given what played out there, the owner knew he would eventually tab Jerod to lead the team.
There’s a common thread that binds all of the experiences Kraft has shared with him.
From start to finish, Mayo has always exuded leadership skills and commanded the respect of others.
It started his rookie year after the Patriots selected Mayo 10th overall out of Tennessee in the 2008 draft.
“What I noticed his rookie year, the veteran players used to use him as a vehicle to communicate with Bill (Belichick),” Kraft said.
Mayo was often the go-between, conveying messages from the players to Belichick or asking all of the questions that needed to be answered. In turn, Mayo proved a valuable interpreter for the head coach. He understood what defensive genius Belichick was trying to convey with his various schemes, and how to properly disguise formations.
“In Year 2, they elected him a captain,” Kraft said. “These are guys who had won Super Bowls. And for the next seven years, they elected a guy coming off his rookie year. So it made me pay attention.”
Kraft also paid attention when Mayo retired in 2016 and pursued a career in business, landing a job with Optum where he served as the senior vice president of business development before returning to the Patriots to start his coaching career as inside linebackers coach in 2019.
“We stayed in touch. He reached out to me. We had dinners. It’s just a unique relationship,” Kraft said. “I didn’t know of anyone else who had gone in that type of private industry. He would talk to me about investments, so I knew he had an inquiring mind and he obviously had leadership skills. I just thought that was pretty cool for a young man from the south who grew up without a dad that had adjusted and could command respect of people in that way. It really made an impression.”
When Mayo returned to football, Kraft once again took a keen interest in watching how he interacted with the players, and how they related to him.
“How you motivate players today is different than 25 years ago or 15 years ago,” Kraft said. “These young players coming into the locker room are a lot different in who they relate to.”
Even with six rings, players questioned Belichick about his methods. They wanted to know ‘why’ it was important to do certain drills, run certain plays.
“Because I said so,” which was a common Belichick retort, didn’t always work as a sufficient answer in recent years. Mayo, meanwhile, was always happy to take time and explain things, make sure everyone understood and felt good about what they were doing.
The clincher for Kraft came in Israel. The Patriots owner has made 27 missions there, and Mayo, along with many other Patriots — Vince Wilfork, Stephon Gilmore, Ty Law, Drew Bledsoe and David Andrews among them — went along for the spiritual journey.
Kraft was being honored that year, receiving the Genesis Prize for his contribution to humanity and raising awareness and funds to fight antisemitism. It was during this sojourn to the Holy Land that the Patriot owner’s convictions about Mayo were strengthened.
“We went to a lot of special places. I remember his reaction when he got baptized in the Jordan River. I saw a sign of spirituality,” Kraft said. “I could tell that moment was special.”
Even more special was what happened prior to returning home. The flight was delayed. That’s when Mayo rose to the occasion.
“The main thing, we’re at the airport getting ready to leave, and there was a big delay. So we had all of these guys sitting around,” Kraft explained. “Then Jerod organized a meeting with a forum and held a discussion on the trip. He did it all on his own.
“And at that moment, I saw the initiative and the way people respected him. And I said to myself: ‘He’s going to be our next head coach.’”
Mayo, who spent one-on-one time with Kraft on the trip, cherished both spending time with the diverse group and experiencing Jerusalem, especially praying at the Western Wall.
Did Mayo pray he’d be the head coach of the Patriots one day?
The question was initially met with laughter.
“Honestly, I’ve thought about that for a while,” Mayo finally answered. “I always thought I could do it. I just had to put my mind to it. And we’re here.”
Kraft told MassLive he thought long and hard about bringing in someone with more experience, after parting with Belichick. But he kept coming back to Mayo.
“I just thought having him and Eliot (Wolf) and Matt Groh, they’re all sort of green now. They’ve all been here,” Kraft said of his rookie braintrust. “But the responsibilities, at least on Eliot, and especially Jerod, are huge.
“I’m always thinking about what’s right for the long term. Our businesses are private. I don’t need to make reports to Wall Street every 90 days. I do what the right thing is strategically long term. And I think I’ve done that with Jerod. I’m going to do what my gut tells me, and stay with it until I’m convinced it’s not right.”
Of course, Kraft vividly remembers what happened during Belichick’s first year. He remembered all the pushback, and pundits writing about his huge mistake.
“(Belichick) went 5-11 that first year, and they were killing me,” Kraft said of his critics. “But I’m not going to let (doubters) influence my life. I’m going to do what’s right for this team and our fan base. It’s very important that I think we have a management group — I don’t know how we’re going to do this year — but we have a management group I feel is right for the future.
“We’re moving on.”
The Patriots are moving into the unknown.
As Kraft said, he doesn’t know what this year will bring, but the revival starts now. The foundation is being built for what the Patriots owner believes will be a bright future.
At least, that’s what his gut is telling him.
