The New England Patriots' offensive coaching staff was shaken up ahead of the 2022 NFL season. Is the defense next?
Linebackers coach Jerod Mayo has interviewed for multiple NFL head coaching positions over the last couple of years. With another season in New England under his belt, he'll likely be poised to search for a head coaching role again in 2023.
Patriots Talk: Can the Patriots clean it up for playoff push? | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
With our All Access Daily newsletter, stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams!
SIGN UP HERE On Thursday's Early Edition, The MMQB's Albert Breer weighed in on the possibility of Mayo leaving the Patriots coaching staff next season for a new opportunity.
"Absolutely. And I don't think it necessarily has to be for a head coaching job," Breer said. "If you look across the league right now, there's just an enormous backlog of defensive coaches who are qualified and ready. Dan Quinn waiting for his second shot, Raheem Morris, DeMeco Ryans, Ejiro Evero in Denver. There is this long list of qualified defensive coordinators who are waiting on taking that next step. You've got to do things to separate yourself and right now, Jerod Mayo isn't calling the defense and doesn't have the title, so he's sort of fighting upstream against some of these other guys.
"I think he wants to stay in this area. But if he doesn't have the chance to call the defense, that could hamstring him in this process where there could be tiebreakers in play with some of the other qualified defensive coaches."
New England Patriots
Find the latest New England Patriots news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.
Our Tom E. Curran chimed in with his take on Mayo's future -- or lack thereof -- in Foxboro.
"I think that he believes at this point, after two years of interviewing and another year with the team, that he's ready to spread his wings," Curran said. "He's a guy who wants the next challenge. As Albert pointed out, if he has an opportunity to go someplace else and be a defensive coordinator because it will help move him along and move the needle, he would do that. Previously, he didn't feel like that was a move. But he would really like an opportunity to be a head coach. So I think just saying, 'Hey, you want the title?' would make everything OK for Jerod.
"Previously, my understanding is that it was offered to make Stephen (Belichick) and Jerod co-defensive coordinators and that was something Jerod and his camp balked at because he felt as if he did a lot more of the coordinating while Steve was a play-caller. They work well together, but I think Jerod is kind of bursting at the seams to spread his wings."
Phil Perry agrees with Breer and Curran's assessment of Mayo's plans, adding that Mayo's ideal situation would be to one day take over for Bill Belichick as Patriots head coach.
"I do think he would be open to the idea of going elsewhere," Perry said. "I think for a lot of different reasons in terms of maybe added responsibility, but I also just think the idea of broadening his network could really help Jerod toward his ultimate goal of becoming a head coach. I think it probably would be his dream job to stay here with the Patriots and even if it meant trying to fill the massive unfillable shoes of Bill Belichick as head coach. I think he would be very open to that down the line.
"But if that's still a long way away and he feels his best path of becoming a head coach eventually is to move on, broaden that network, and maybe develop more relationships with front office types around the league -- because we know owners are so set on hiring coaches who are married in some way to their general manager the Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler were -- I think that would have a lot of value for him. So it would not shock me if Jerod Mayo ended up taking an opportunity elsewhere next season. It is my understanding that this is the last year of his contract here in New England."
You can watch the full Early Edition segment in the video above.