Robert Kraft and Jerod Mayo’s Joint Press Conference: A New Era for the New England Patriots
Date: January 17, 2024
Robert Kraft’s Introduction: A Legacy of Leadership and Trust
Good afternoon, everyone. It’s an honor and a privilege to introduce the 15th head coach of the New England Patriots, Jerod Mayo. Today marks a significant moment in the history of our franchise, as we embark on a new chapter with a leader who embodies the values and aspirations of our organization.
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Jerod for nearly 16 years, first as a player and now as a coach. His dedication, strategic acumen, and ability to inspire players have been evident throughout his career.
Jerod’s credentials garner respect, and he relates beautifully to the players. He has been on the coaching staff now for five seasons, and each year his role has grown on the defense, which has now been ranked in the top 10 in the league in the four seasons he has coached them.
I trust that Jerod is the right person to lead the Patriots back to championship-level contention and long-term success.
Jerod Mayo’s Address: Embracing the Past, Shaping the Future
I appreciate you, Thunder — I call him Young Thunder Cat. He has a young heart.
I want to thank my family, first and foremost. Becoming a Patriot has never really felt like a job. When I first got here in 2008, I was a first-round draft pick. The first game of the season, Tom Brady gets hurt. He’s out for the year. Most people wrote us off that season, but that’s when I really had an opportunity to see the culture at work.
The culture starts at the top with Mr. Kraft and the family. It also has to permeate throughout the organization. I’ve always tried to carry that flag for the Kraft family. They win a lot. I love being here.
I took a break, I went to Optum for about four years, and I came back. One thing I learned at Optum is a lot about diversity and inclusion.
Being the first Black coach here in New England means a lot to me. I don’t like echo chambers. I want people around me that are going to question my ideas or question the way we have done things in the past. I don’t want to teach them what to think, I want to teach them how to think.
I’m honored. I’m ready to go. I’m excited to be the next head coach of the Patriots.
Q&A Session: Insights into the Future of the Patriots
Q: Robert, who will have the final say on draft and signing decisions?
RKK: In the short-term, we’re looking for collaboration. We have a lot of people internally who have had a chance to train and learn under the greatest coach of all time. We’ve never drafted as low as we’re drafting in my 30 years of ownership. We’re counting on our internal people whom we’re still learning and evaluating. We’ll let that evolve and develop, and before the key decisions have to be made, we will appoint someone. At the same time, we’ll probably start doing interviews and looking at people from the outside. But my bias has always been, in all our family companies, to try to develop a culture from within where we understand one another.
Q: Jerod, have you set up interviews for the defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator positions? Will you open a search for an offensive coordinator?
JM: Everything is still under consideration. The staff that I’ve been working with isn’t the staff that I have chosen. One thing I would say with all of my coaches, the number one thing is developing people. Whether we’re talking offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, all that stuff is under eval, and my number one thing is I want to bring in developers.
Q: Will you officially name coordinators?
JM: I think titles are important outward-looking, but as far as in the building, I don’t care what your title is. It’s what’s your job, what value do you bring to the organization. Sometimes I think in business, in sports, people get caught up in titles. But I also understand the other side. If you want to continue to get promoted, people have to know exactly what you do.
Q: What’s the difficulty of replacing the greatest coach of all time?
JM: This organization has had a lot of success over the years for a long time. One thing I learned from Coach and from Thunder is about just surrounding yourself with good people. As far as our staff and things like that, we’re going to be good. We’re going to be a lot better. Bill always says this, managing expectations. For me, I’m not trying to be Bill. I’m not trying to be Bill. Hard work works, and that’s what we’re all about.
Q: Have you had the opportunity to celebrate with your family and soak in the opportunity being the first Black coach?
JM: I haven’t had that opportunity, but we’re turning it up tonight, back to work tomorrow.
Q: What have you learned from other coaches over the course of your playing career?
JM: Philosophy is interesting, especially if you’re talking about Xs and Os. We’ve always been a game plan team. Our philosophy has to be flexible. I think of leadership more as gardening. Gardeners really don’t grow anything. They just make sure the soil is right. They grab the weeds out there, they water it, whatever, and that’s how what grows, grows. That’s how I approach leadership. Collaboration is huge.
Q: How do you view your role moving forward when it comes to building the team?
JM: I believe in leaning on experts in their field. Will we always do what that expert advises us to do? No, absolutely not. But at the same time I’m going to go into this thing with no expectations.
Q: What’s your vision for getting the offense back on track?
JM: The energy, the passion, the leaders on the offensive side of the ball. You have to get that stuff in place. We have a good foundation. My thing here over the next few weeks is to rebuild some relationships, knock down silos, and collaborate. That’s what I’m focused on.
Q: Robert, do you intend to appoint a general manager?
RKK: We want to see what we have in-house, look what’s out there in the marketplace, and then do what we think is right. We don’t have a fixed formula. We’re going to do — we know what’s worked for us in the past, and that’s what we’re going to do here in the future.
Q: Robert, what does it mean to you that Jerod is the first Black coach?
RKK: I’m really colorblind in terms of I know what I feel like on Sunday when we lose. I want to get the best people I can get. I chose the best head coach for this organization. He happens to be a man of color. But I chose him because I believe he’s best to do the job.
JM: I do see color because I believe if you don’t see color, you can’t see racism. It goes back to whatever it is, Black, white, yellow, it really doesn’t matter, but it does matter so we can try to fix the problem that we all know we have.
Q: Robert, why wasn’t Jonathan present today and how would you describe Jonathan’s role in the football operation moving forward?
RKK: He really is running all of the Kraft Group companies. He serves as an equal partner to me in the running of the operations strategically. He’s not involved in the day-to-day operations. He’s helping me on an overall basis in the ownership position.
Q: Jerod, what sort of timeline do you envision for the Patriots’ path back to the playoffs?
JM: It’s too early to really talk about timelines and changing things.
Q: Robert, why did you decide not to do a head coaching search and talk to other people?
RKK: In all our companies, early on when we started doing well, people tried to get us to go public and bring in partners and we could make all kinds of money and everything. I made a decision I always wanted to stay private and didn’t want partners who would weigh in. We like to think strategically what’s best for the long-term, not have to do things that are going to require quick decisions. I’ve learned when I went with my instincts the two women in my life that I lucked out, one-day connection, and I just went with my instinct. I think we’ve got someone very special who understands how to manage young people today.
Q: Jerod, how far do you think this team is from getting back to the level of competing for championships?
JM: I think it’s too early to tell. We’re still in the evaluation process.
Q: Jerod, what has the response been like from the players since this announcement was made official?
JM: The guys have been great. Once again, it’s all about the players. Players win games and coaches lose games, and it’s our job as coaches to put the players in the position to go out there and play to their strengths.
Q: Jerod, as a first-year head coach jumping into a four-win team, what do you consider the greatest challenge?
JM: We’re still evaluating everything as far as players, as far as the schemes, as far as the coaching staff. As long as the coaches and as long as some of the leaders on your team, I’m talking the guys under contract, really believe in the miss, now it’s their job — or the mission or the vision, now it’s their job to go disseminate that amongst their peers.
Q: Robert, how involved will you and ownership be in football decision making and operations?
RKK: It will be the same input that we’ve had for the last three decades. We try to hire the best people we can find and let them do their job and hold them accountable.
Q: Jerod, you had the phrasing of knocking down some walls and rebuilding some relationships, getting out of these silos. What walls need to be knocked down in your opinion? What relationships need to be rebuilt?
JM: As we evaluate the players, the scheme and things like that, I think you have to evaluate the culture and evaluate how the pieces fit. I don’t want to be an echo chamber. I want people who are going to be honest and open and hopefully come together and make a sound decision.