Mayo's Intoductory Press Conference

[lancerman]

Probably, but if they switch offensive systems to something he's a better fit for, maybe he can be decent? I don't know... Can he become as good as Goff is?

I don't really care about Mac all that much because I view him as damaged goods, but I think there was and is a pretty high chance that he goes somewhere else and we end up seeing him going back to 2021 Mac or even better with more talent and heads that were here at the time were going to roll anyways.

As far as keeping him. I'm of two minds. One, he is not the answer. Two, we aren't winning next year, so maybe it makes sense to get Harrison and load up on offense and then make a big play to draft a QB the following year. Any QB that comes in next year is in a **** situation where the majority of the talent they should be relying on will be either younger draftees or guys who just came in via FA to learn the system.

Wouldn't mind punting and hanging Mac out to dry another year to focus more on longterm and then identifying a QB prospect and making a trade up to get them.

 

[Ross12]

I thought the press conference was kind of dull but mainly because the media didn't have very good questions.

At least Robert said that they are "evaluating" the front office but will eventually annoint someone to a role that has final say, and will most likely do external candidate interviews. To me, this aligns with the thought process of them probably wanting to promote Wolf, Groh, Stevens, or someone (probably Wolf) internally but want to determine who the best pick is and are taking their time, and to do so they'll need to do external minority candidate interviews anyway, so they'll talk to guys like Trey Brown etc at that time.

 

[SVN]

Several sentences strung together, Needed a break from Bill, he'll change things so there's no echo chamber, he appreciates diversity of thought and will listen more. Each of these sentences came right after the other. Unless you understand them as part of the same context, they can be understood as criticisms of Bill. If you take them separately, maybe not.

I felt each bill reference was a backhanded slap to him

 

[paco130]

Needed a break from Bill

I hope he was kidding but on its face, the statement wasn't very smart!

 

[Ross12]

I don't really care about Mac all that much because I view him as damaged goods, but I think there was and is a pretty high chance that he goes somewhere else and we end up seeing him going back to 2021 Mac or even better with more talent and heads that were here at the time were going to roll anyways.

As far as keeping him. I'm of two minds. One, he is not the answer. Two, we aren't winning next year, so maybe it makes sense to get Harrison and load up on offense and then make a big play to draft a QB the following year. Any QB that comes in next year is in a **** situation where the majority of the talent they should be relying on will be either younger draftees or guys who just came in via FA to learn the system.

But with a new head coach and presumably a new OC running a new system, New England essentially is "somewhere else". I don't know. The guy has the tools to be solid but needs mental work. The tough love approach obviously did not work. Maybe Mayo's approach can get him right. He'll never be Mahomes or Allen, etc, but there's an outside chance he can be Goff and that Lions team is Super Bowl caliber.

 

[Peachhead]

Just me or does Kraft sound like he had a couple before getting up there?

It may be dysarthria. A speech impediment usually associated with neurological damage. His natural Boston Brahmin accent probably accentuates it too. He speaks like that when interviewed during games as well. I would be surprised (and dismayed) if he was half in the bag on all those occasions. Especially a noon press conference to introduce his most important hire in 24 years.

 

[wheresmosi]

Doing some "math," I noticed: Kraft said beginning in 2019 trip to the Holy Land, he thought of Mayo as the next coach. Mayo returned to the team in 2019 after working at Optimum. I wonder if in fact Kraft invited him to the Holy Land, and/or if Mayo decided to come back into the league, in 2019 because this plan was made. In other words, did he come back to football in order to succeed BB, or did he come back because he was told the plan was to get him to succeed BB? If so, the things feels a little bit too "laid out" for me, unless BB himself was in on it. But at that point, Mayo would have had little or no coaching. This largely means that he was seen as the future coach BEFORE he had almost ANY coaching experience. That seems troubling, as thought is was largely based on personality, desire by Kraft to establish a minority coaching legacy, or whatever. To be sure, he had already proven himself as a leader among players, but lots of guys do that without being set aside to be coach of their teams one day, let alone to replace someone like BB. And of course this would all be right after their last SB win as well.

 

[Ross12]

Doing some "math," I noticed: Kraft said beginning in 2019 trip to the Holy Land, he thought of Mayo as the next coach. Mayo returned to the team in 2019 after working at Optimum. I wonder if in fact Kraft invited him to the Holy Land, and/or if Mayo decided to come back into the league, in 2019 because this plan was made. In other words, did he come back to football in order to succeed BB, or did he come back because he was told the plan was to get him to succeed BB? If so, the things feels a little bit too "laid out" for me, unless BB himself was in on it. But at that point, Mayo would have had little or no coaching. This largely means that he was seen as the future coach BEFORE he had almost ANY coaching experience. That seems troubling, as thought is was largely based on personality, desire by Kraft to establish a minority coaching legacy, or whatever. To be sure, he had already proven himself as a leader among players, but lots of guys do that without being set aside to be coach of their teams one day, let alone to replace someone like BB. And of course this would all be right after their last SB win as well.

A favorable interpretation of that when paired with Kraft talking about his "instincts" is that Kraft had a feeling about Mayo being special back then and wanted him to come on the staff, then observed Mayo as he worked on the coaching staff. Over time his work, and other teams viewing him as a Head Coach candidate via interviews, confirmed Kraft's instincts, so he wrote the succession clause into Mayo's deal in the 2023 offseason.

 

[lancerman]

But with a new head coach and presumably a new OC running a new system, New England essentially is "somewhere else". I don't know. The guy has the tools to be solid but needs mental work. The tough love approach obviously did not work. Maybe Mayo's approach can get him right. He'll never be Mahomes or Allen, etc, but there's an outside chance he can be Goff and that Lions team is Super Bowl caliber.

In an ideal world, Mac would have been an Andy Dalton type where he was average with a few great games and a few duds. That would have allowed us to rebuild the team and keep things relatively steady until we were ready to finally make the jump to going hard for a new QB who we really believed could take us over the hurdle. Unfortunately the team was awful on offense and there was some dysfunction the last few years and it became the hallmark story of how to make a QB regress and fail. I don't think he can be salvaged beyond maybe getting to stopgap level like a Geno Smith type who can do well in a system that is tailored to him.

The question is, where does the team go. Do we really believe in the QB we will get at 3 or are we taking somebody like inm 2021 where we aren't high on who fell to us but thought we needed to get a QB. Because unlike 2021, at 3 there will be some studs to get. You can get an instant WR upgrade. You can probably get two. MHJ and somebody early 2nd round. There are also lineman to be had that we can trade back into the first for.

 

[Ross12]

In an ideal world, Mac would have been an Andy Dalton type where he was average with a few great games and a few duds. That would have allowed us to rebuild the team and keep things relatively steady until we were ready to finally make the jump to going hard for a new QB who we really believed could take us over the hurdle. Unfortunately the team was awful on offense and there was some dysfunction the last few years and it became the hallmark story of how to make a QB regress and fail. I don't think he can be salvaged beyond maybe getting to stopgap level like a Geno Smith type who can do well in a system that is tailored to him.

The question is, where does the team go. Do we really believe in the QB we will get at 3 or are we taking somebody like inm 2021 where we aren't high on who fell to us but thought we needed to get a QB. Because unlike 2021, at 3 there will be some studs to get. You can get an instant WR upgrade. You can probably get two. MHJ and somebody early 2nd round. There are also lineman to be had that we can trade back into the first for.

My thought process is either - A) draft MHJ and trade up into the mid 1st for a tackle, then start a veteran QB or Mac, OR B) draft a QB and trade up into the mid 1st for a tackle

In either scenario, you sign Michael Pittman or Tee Higgins as a free agent and re-sign Onwenu as your RT. Probably have a much better offense either way...

 

[BadMoFo]

I thought the press conference was kind of dull but mainly because the media didn't have very good questions.

At least Robert said that they are "evaluating" the front office but will eventually annoint someone to a role that has final say, and will most likely do external candidate interviews. To me, this aligns with the thought process of them probably wanting to promote Wolf, Groh, Stevens, or someone (probably Wolf) internally but want to determine who the best pick is and are taking their time, and to do so they'll need to do external minority candidate interviews anyway, so they'll talk to guys like Trey Brown etc at that time.

It was. I think everyone was more interested in the staff we're bringing in to work with Mayo.

 

[lancerman]

My thought process is either - A) draft MHJ and trade up into the mid 1st for a tackle, then start a veteran QB or Mac, OR B) draft a QB and trade up into the mid 1st for a tackle

In either scenario, you sign Michael Pittman or Tee Higgins.

I'd probably trade up for a WR in scenario B just because that is a deeper position in the draft and you can probably get a very clear upgrade. I'd take a tackle if we already got MHJ.

The only caveat is, if the QB that is there at #3 is someone that everyone is 100% all in on and thinks that is the guy. Then you just take him.

 

[Kdo5]

I thought the press conference was kind of dull but mainly because the media didn't have very good questions.

At least Robert said that they are "evaluating" the front office but will eventually annoint someone to a role that has final say, and will most likely do external candidate interviews. To me, this aligns with the thought process of them probably wanting to promote Wolf, Groh, Stevens, or someone (probably Wolf) internally but want to determine who the best pick is and are taking their time, and to do so they'll need to do external minority candidate interviews anyway, so they'll talk to guys like Trey Brown etc at that time.

Not an expert on these introductory press conferences but are they really known for being engaging? I'm under the impression they are typically grab ass and vague. This one seemed par for the course. Overall I appreciate Mayo's confidence and connection with the players which is definitely of great importance.

 

[upstater1]

Doing some "math," I noticed: Kraft said beginning in 2019 trip to the Holy Land, he thought of Mayo as the next coach. Mayo returned to the team in 2019 after working at Optimum. I wonder if in fact Kraft invited him to the Holy Land, and/or if Mayo decided to come back into the league, in 2019 because this plan was made. In other words, did he come back to football in order to succeed BB, or did he come back because he was told the plan was to get him to succeed BB? If so, the things feels a little bit too "laid out" for me, unless BB himself was in on it. But at that point, Mayo would have had little or no coaching. This largely means that he was seen as the future coach BEFORE he had almost ANY coaching experience. That seems troubling, as thought is was largely based on personality, desire by Kraft to establish a minority coaching legacy, or whatever. To be sure, he had already proven himself as a leader among players, but lots of guys do that without being set aside to be coach of their teams one day, let alone to replace someone like BB. And of course this would all be right after their last SB win as well.

I wondered about this as well but from another angle.

I opened a post in the Pub to discuss some of this because Reiss is very close to many sides of this, and the way he lead off his article about Belichick's firing by discussing an anecdote about Belichick wearing the Kraft family initiative pin off to the side and on his belly, this all seemed so strange to me. And Bill gave a calloused answer as to why he was wearing the pin. And my antennae are up because of it. The pin was prominent on Mayo's lapel today.

I posted in the Pub because I was just speculating about what this all might mean, and I have nothing to go on except 3 facts: 1. What Reiss wrote. 2. What Kraft just said. 3. Belichick didn't accompany Kraft like Mayo and many other Patriots have.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Doing some "math," I noticed: Kraft said beginning in 2019 trip to the Holy Land, he thought of Mayo as the next coach. Mayo returned to the team in 2019 after working at Optimum. I wonder if in fact Kraft invited him to the Holy Land, and/or if Mayo decided to come back into the league, in 2019 because this plan was made. In other words, did he come back to football in order to succeed BB, or did he come back because he was told the plan was to get him to succeed BB? If so, the things feels a little bit too "laid out" for me, unless BB himself was in on it. But at that point, Mayo would have had little or no coaching. This largely means that he was seen as the future coach BEFORE he had almost ANY coaching experience. That seems troubling, as thought is was largely based on personality, desire by Kraft to establish a minority coaching legacy, or whatever. To be sure, he had already proven himself as a leader among players, but lots of guys do that without being set aside to be coach of their teams one day, let alone to replace someone like BB. And of course this would all be right after their last SB win as well.

Players in all sports are identified as head coach/managers while they play and have succeeded when given the job.

 

[Ring 6]

That was depressing. Seemed like 2 guys up there who had no clue.
How many HCs get hired and are asked when they expect to win and say “we will evaluate”?

 

[Hyped]

At this point I don't think there's anything he can say that will make me go, "Phew, I'm 100% sold!", because there's just so much left to DO. And what he does will be more important. But I just want to start getting a sense for what he'll be like as a head coach, how he handles the media, and see whether anyone in the media tries to "test" him with questions that they normally would get a non-answer from Bill on. I always appreciated the grump that Belichick was (while we were winning at least), but it would be a nice change of pace if Mayo is a bit more personable.

Also, I'm hoping just to see Mayo be excited for this opportunity. He's earned it, and everyone around him seems to be excited, so it'll just be nice to see him bask in the moment a bit.

I don't mind if Mayo is naturally more personable....but I want a coach that is focused on one thing only....the next game.

Screw the media...they never did us any good....

 

[upstater1]

A favorable interpretation of that when paired with Kraft talking about his "instincts" is that Kraft had a feeling about Mayo being special back then and wanted him to come on the staff, then observed Mayo as he worked on the coaching staff. Over time his work, and other teams viewing him as a Head Coach candidate via interviews, confirmed Kraft's instincts, so he wrote the succession clause into Mayo's deal in the 2023 offseason.

It may be more than that. Mayo engages in subjects, is active, is diplomatic, inquisitive, and seemed deeply concerned about an issue close to Kraft's heart.

 

[holyredeemer]

Good press conference. We got a few answers. Mayo says titles matter to him, I’m thankful for that. Maybe now we’ll have an official DC. Also has me feeling hopeful for the coaching staff. Sounds as though the situation is the same with the front office. Evaluate what you have internally before trying to replace from outside. Once you are confident with what you have, begin pulling the trigger with outside moves to fill the gaps. It will keep some of the foundation together while also allowing for some new blood. Another thing that could really be slowing things down is Bill. We have no idea how many guys are just waiting for Bills next landing spot so they can go tag along. They need to know who and what they have so they can be ready with counter offers as soon as possible. I’m feeling more confident now that the press conference has concluded that we are on the right path. Just….dont settle on Mac. Bring is some serious goddamn competition at the qb position.

 

[upstater1]

I don't mind if Mayo is naturally more personable....but I want a coach that is focused on one thing only....the next game.

Screw the media...they never did us any good....

A lesson that needs to be learned, apparently.

And I make absolutely no apologies when I say this: the radio talk shows are never above emphasizing the nature of diversity hires or above questioning whether someone really deserved a coaching job, whether someone has the intellect and work ethic to actually do it. When you listen to Boston Sports radio, you know they are not above stereotypes. I think Mayo is going to hear it and learn from it.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.