Jerod Mayo is the head coach of the New England Patriots and at age 37, he is the NFL’s youngest coach and the first Black coach of the Patriots.
So far, 12 NFL teams have never hired a Black non-interim head coach. They include Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Carolina, Dallas, Jacksonville, the Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans, the New York Giants, Seattle, Tennessee, and Washington, according to Andscape.
At a press conference on Wednesday to officially introduce Mayo as the 15th head coach, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft told Andscape that he “wanted to hire a Black man, wanted to make sure he got the right Black man for the job because he wanted him to be successful. Mayo was that person.”
Before his appointment, Mayo spent eight seasons playing for legendary coach Bill Belichick and five years serving on Belichick’s staff, becoming the Patriots’ inside linebackers coach. Now a head coach, he comes into his new role quite familiar with the culture and process in New England, according to the NFL.
“Yeah, this organization has had a lot of success over the years, for a long time. And there have been many teams that, they have one good year and then they’re out for three years,” Mayo said during his introductory news conference. “One thing I learned from Coach is, and from Thunder (Patriots owner Robert Kraft), is about just surrounding yourself with good people.
“Now as far as our staff and things like that, we’re going to be good, we’re going to be a lot better. Now Bill always says this: ‘managing expectations.’ For me, I’m not trying to be Bill, I’m not trying to be Bill. I think that Bill is his own man, if you can’t tell by now I’m even a little bit different up here. But what I will say is, the more I think about the lessons that I’ve taken from Bill, hard work works, right? Hard work works. And that’s what we’re all about.”
In 2008, Mayo joined the Patriots as a first-round pick. He would play for the Patriots through to 2015 and later return to the club in 2019 to be their inside linebacker’s coach. In his debut season in the NFL, he won the league’s AP Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, logging 128 tackles right out of the gate.
In his second season, he ascended to captaincy. The young linebacker played football at Tennessee prior to his selection by New England. After retirement, Mayo worked as an executive in finance at Optum before joining Belichick’s staff. He is now the first former Tennessee football player to be named a full-time head coach in the NFL.
According to WVLT, he is taking over a Patriot team that has missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, however, the 37-year-old is optimistic that he can help lead the team “Back to where we need to be. At the top.”
Meanwhile, Mayo is married to Chantel Rostant, a cosmetologist and haircare guru as well as a creative cook, philanthropist, and floral and event designer. Today, Mayo and Rostant have four children — Chya (born in 2010), son Jerod Jr. (born in 2011), Chyanne (born in 2014), and Chylo (born in 2017).
Rostant and her husband live in a $2.5 million home in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, along with their four children. The house includes five bedrooms, five baths, a spa room with a hot tub, a finished basement with a movie theater, and a billiards room. Also, the property contains a pool with a waterfall, a fire pit, and a complete outdoor kitchen.
