The Patriots made an unprecedented announcement Thursday: They have begun negotiations with linebackers coach Jerod Mayo to keep him on staff, and they will begin interviews with potential offensive coordinators next week.
Mayo has drawn interest from the Panthers for their head coaching vacancy and the Browns for their defensive coordinator job. Both teams requested permission from the Patriots to interview Mayo.
Mayo began his coaching career in 2019 as the Patriots inside linebackers coach. He has shared defensive coordinator responsibilities with Steve Belichick despite neither of them having that title.
The Patriots didn’t have an offensive coordinator in 2022 either, and the Matt Patricia/Joe Judge experiment failed.
Patricia, the senior football advisor/offensive line coach, ended up calling plays with Judge as the quarterbacks coach. The Patriots finished 17th in scoring and 26th in total yards, and Mac Jones did not take the next step in his development.
Former Patriots offensive coordinator and Texans head coach Bill O’Brien currently is Alabama’s offensive coordinator and the favorite to land the job.