Jerod Mayo Still Has Aspirations To Be NFL Head Coach: 'I Know I Can Do It'
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Former Patriots linebacker and current Patriots coach Jerod Mayo was linked to the Eagles in the offseason, interviewing for the head coach position before the team hired Nick Sirianni.
Mayo is now embarking on his third season on the Patriots' coaching staff. The 35-year-old is sure to remain a popular name in head coaching searches in the coming years, and that's something he's looking forward to.
"I definitely have aspirations to be a head coach," Mayo said Wednesday. "I'm really focused on this team, and we have a great head coach here in New England. But that is the goal. That is the goal. I think I could do it -- well, I should say, I know I can do it. I'm just waiting for my chance to really come to fruition."
Mayo -- who was the Patriots' top pick in 2008, at No. 10 overall, before playing eight seasons in New England -- is obviously well-versed in Patriots culture. So in the meantime, he knows that all he can do is try to improve every day.
"Personally speaking, I think I'm better as a coach," Mayo said when asked about his professional growth as a coach. "This question may be better for some of the players who saw me in my first year coaching to now. I just really try to break it down to the nuts and bolts of it. I always say players win games and coaches lose games, and it's our responsibility as coaches to really simplify the concepts so everyone in the room can understand. And I will say this: the one thing about experience is that you know what to expect. Now last year was just an anomaly as far as what to expect every single week, which you guys have gone through that as well. Every single week it was like something else. And so this year is kind of like my first year, so I'm trying to take that second-year leap this year, being around the guys on a daily basis."
And outside of his professional duties, Mayo's also making sure to maintain a better lawn than his neighbor, Tedy Bruschi.
"I think Tedy still cuts his own grass," Mayo said of the former Pats linebacker who's been around at a couple of training camp practices thus far. "I was way past that. I always joke around with Teddy, 'Man, top 10, 2008, I'm paying to get my grass cut at this point.' So my lawn looks better than Tedy's. And I would say my pool is probably better than Tedy's. But I will say this -- I have four kids under the age of 11, so his house is probably a lot cleaner than mine."
