Mike Mayock has become over the past 15 years one of the top NFL draft experts. After this draft, we may be benefiting from his expertise for only three more of them.
“I signed a five-year deal a year and a half ago so after this draft I have another three drafts,” Mayock tells Richard Deitsch of TheAthletic.com. “At that point, I want to take a step back. The draft is all-encompassing and I love it but at age 62 [in three years] I might want to coach a high school team. There is a part of me that wants to get involved on the football side, whether it is in the NFL or coaching defensive backs at a local high school.”
Mayock added that he has been “fairly close” to accepting a front-office job with an NFL team on a couple of occasions, and that he “would be very interested” is the “right situation” with the “right people” arose.
Mayock, who previously served as game analyst for NBC’s Notre Dame football broadcasts and NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football, reiterated frustrations regarding his inability to get another broadcasting job.
“I am an older guy who has done it and most people associate me as the ‘draft guy’ and they are looking for both younger and guys immediately coming out of the league,” Mayock said. “On the one hand, I get some of it. On the other hand, I think they are missing the point that it should be about quality first.”
When it comes to quality, few provide as much as Mayock when it comes to the draft. If he walks away from it after the 2021 draft, NFLN will have big shoes to fill.