Jerod Mayo was officially introduced as the new head coach of the New England Patriots on Wednesday, becoming the 15th head coach in franchise history. He also made history in the process.
Mayo is the first Black coach in the 65 years of the Patriots' existence, an honor that he admittedly takes pride in. As he spoke about his time working in business with healthcare company Optum following his playing career during his opening statement on Wednesday, Mayo acknowledged the history he's making as he discussed the diversity of ideas.
“I learned about diversity and inclusion,' Mayo said of his time with Optum. “You'd better believe being the first Black coach here in New England means a lot to me. But those guys taught me you have to take ideas from other people, Black, white, green, yellow. Really doesn't matter. Old, young. One thing you'll notice about me in our interaction as we continue to go, is I don't like echo chambers. I want people around me that are going to question my ideas.”
"We got someone very special.”
Robert Kraft on Jerod Mayo’s leadership skills. pic.twitter.com/pXUP26GZef
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 17, 2024
What Robert Kraft said of Patriots' decision to hire their first Black coach in Jerod Mayo
When Kraft was asked Wednesday what it meant to him to hire the first Black coach in Patriots history, he shared that he picked Mayo because he felt he was the best person for the job.
“Let me say this to you: I'm really colorblind in terms of I know what I feel like on Sunday when we lose, and I can just tell you that after my family, my passion is with the New England Patriots, and there's something else very close second, but winning at the Patriots is my passion,” Kraft said. “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.”
As Mayo shared that some other prominent Black head coaches reached out to him since he got the job, he stated the importance of diversity and seemed to give a differing take to something Kraft said.
“You want your locker room to be pretty diverse, and you want the world to look like that. What I will say, though, is I do see color because I believe if you don't see color, you can't see racism,” Mayo said. “Whatever happens, Black, white, disabled person — even someone with disabilities, for the most part people are like — when they're young, they kind of make the spot hot. Younger people know what that means.
“But what I would say is, no, I want you to be able to go up to those people and really understand those people. 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.”
“I do see color, because I believe if you don’t see color you can’t see racism.”
Jerod Mayo on being named the first black head coach in Patriots history. pic.twitter.com/toTTJ6CrB3
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 17, 2024
Mayo joked around a bit on Wednesday, too. When former Patriots safety and old teammate Devin McCourty also asked him if he's taken the chance to soak in being the team's first Black head coach, Mayo cracked a joke.
“I haven't had that opportunity, but we're turning it up tonight, back to work tomorrow,” Mayo said.
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