Now that the smoke has cleared on the end of the Bill Belichick regime and the hiring of Jerod Mayo as the next head coach of the Patriots, the hard work begins filling out a staff and aligning with the personnel department.
Mayo is the seventh coach I've covered in my over 20 years covering the league, including three different teams and the NFL at large. I've seen a few administrations come and go, and have picked up a few positives and negatives from those experiences.
Some next steps for Mayo:
1. Hire an offensive coordinator.
Duh. Not exactly earth-shattering, but what is important is Mayo has to have a vision of what he wants his offense to look like, and then go find someone who matches that. It's not easy. If Mayo wants to have a conservative offense that majors in running the ball and ball control, don't hire someone who is more comfortable with passing concepts. Considering the Patriots undoubtedly will have a new QB next season — the previous staff was done with Mac Jones and indications are Mayo is as well — someone with a track record of working well with young QBs (being a former QBs coach is a must) is also paramount.
Also keep this in mind: whoever you hire, whatever scheme you go to, you must make that scheme the Patriots' scheme going forward. Obviously you can change streams if need be, but the idea is to have one scheme for the rest of your coaching career. More on that in a minute.
2. Let the new OC hire his staff.
He knows what needs to be taught at every single position group. Empower him to hire the teachers. Don't make it mandatory he needs to keep anyone on, even Troy Brown. The offense needs a completely fresh start. No sacred cows/dead weight. Usher in a new era.
3. Make all the playbooks the new Patriots playbooks.
I think one of the smartest things Bill Belichick ever did, which was an underrated key to the dynasty and remarkable consistency, was declare the Patriots would have one offensive playbook and one defensive playbook - no matter who was coordinating each unit.
I didn't really understand this until Nick Saban stated he would do the same thing as Dolphins coach, and he learned it from Belichick in Cleveland. Coaches are going to come and go, but you can't change everything you do just because a coordinator left for another job — having the players start over again is no way to build a program. So when Scott Linehan left for the Vikings' head job after Saban's first season, Mike Mularkey had to run Linehan's system — which had become the Dolphins' offense.
Whoever Mayo hires ... that's the Patriots offensive playbook for the foreseeable future, and that leads me to...
4. Develop a succession plan at every single coaching position, especially on offense.
We now see it annually in the NFL: any successful offensive coordinator under a defensive (or CEO) head coach stands a great chance of getting offered a head coaching job. Matt LaFleur and Arthur Smith both got hired away from Mike Vrabel with the Texans. Ben Johnson could have left the Lions last year. Bobby Slowik is a hot name this year after one season with the Texans. Sean McDermott, if he doesn't keep interim OC Joe Brady, will be looking for his third OC since Brian Daboll left two years ago.
No matter who Mayo hires as OC, he has to prepare for them to leave. That means stocking the offensive staff with assistants who can take over their position group — all of them OC, QB, TE, RB, WR, OL — in the event they get plucked for a head job, or wish to follow the OC to his head coaching stop.
If Slowik leaves, the Texans have QB coach Jerrod Johnson on staff. Demeco Ryans is going to need more. Johnson is getting OC interviews himself. All this off one season with a rookie QB.
Mayo needs to insist that the new OC hire: a QB coach, assistant QB coach, OL line, assistant OL, WRs, assistant WRs, TEs, assistant TEs. Tell the Krafts to get the wallet open. Stack the staff. Succession plans at every coaching spot.
5. Hire the defensive coordinator.
Go with your gut. DeMarcus Covington has been one of, if not the best, position coach on this team for several years running. He's ready for the job, would bring a lot of continuity and carryover. Hopefully he's more Brian Flores than Matt Patricia or Steve Belichick, but we'll have to see.
League chatter is Mayo is interested in bringing back some former players back as assistant coaches, including Rob Ninkovich. That would be encouraging.
6. Bring in a mentor assistant head coach.
Mayo is extremely smart but leading a football organization is a lot even for the very best — even Belichick sought some help in his later years to take some things off his plate (Matt Patricia, Joe Judge).
Mayo could use someone with head coaching experience to be his right man and sounding board. The kind of person who knows the errors they made and can head off some major problems. Can handle some personnel duties
Some possibilities worth exploring:
Romeo Crennel
Ron Rivera
Perry Fewell (current NFL VP of officiating)
Jim Caldwell
Lovie Smith
Mike Zimmer
David Culley
Frank Reich (possible OC)
Doug Marrone (possible OL coach)
Anthony Lynn (49ers asst. HC/RBs)