Incoming New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo already had impossible shoes to fill when he was hired this week to replace a legend who won the team six Super Bowls.
On Wednesday, Mayo didn’t do himself any favors with fans who simply want to see the team find its way back to greatness when he divulged he actively looks for racism in the world.
“You better believe being the first black head coach here in New England means a lot to me,” Mayo said as he was introduced to the media, Sports Illustrated reported. “I do see color because I believe if you don’t see color, you can’t see racism.”
“I do see color, because I believe if you don’t see color you can’t see racism.”
Jerod Mayo on being named the first black head coach in Patriots history. pic.twitter.com/toTTJ6CrB3
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 17, 2024
Mayo added: “Whatever happens, black, white, disabled person — even someone with disabilities, for the most part people are like — when they’re young, they kind of make the spot hot. Younger people know what that means.
“But what I would say is, like no, I want you to be able to go up to those people and really understand those people. It goes back to whatever it is, black, white, yellow, it really doesn’t matter, but it does matter, so we can try to fix the problem that we all know we have.”
A response similar to the one Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles gave in 2022 would have been sufficient.
In his first season as the head coach of the franchise, Bowles was asked by a reporter how he related to Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin — given they were at the time the only two black head coaches in the NFL.
Did the Patriots hire a good replacement?
If Bowles hadn’t been such a stoic, business-orientated person, he might very well have been outwardly repulsed by the question.
“I have a lot of very good white friends that coach in this league as well, and I don’t think it’s a big deal,” the coach said.
Bucs coach Todd Bowles was asked about facing Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, and downplayed the conversation around it being a matchup featuring two Black NFL head coaches.
“I think the minute you guys stop making a big deal about it, everybody else will as well.” pic.twitter.com/tjoHEuPa5I
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) October 13, 2022
Bowles added, “As far as us coaching against each other, I think it’s normal … We don’t look at color.”
He ultimately concluded, “I think the minute you guys stop making a big deal about it, everybody else will as well.”
The answer was thoughtful, well-stated, and factually correct. What difference does the skin pigmentation of a great coach make?
For that matter, what kind of man walks through life looking for examples of misrepresentation and racism?
Mayo might be the new head coach of one of the NFL’s most storied franchises, but he’s got a difficult road ahead of him — just as any coach does.
The NFL is a show-me-now sports league, and Mayo is going to need to deliver quickly. This is a team that just sent the best coach of the modern era — Bill Belichick — out of town over three down seasons in a reportedly mutual decision.
Any coach that team owner Robert Kraft hired was going to come in on day one with his feet over the fire. Mayo began his era as the top dog in New England by admitting that he looks around and makes note of the color of the people he encounters.
The culture within the Patriots organization appears as though it might now be rooted in the team’s coach and his apparent obsession with race.
It could very well also end up with that same coach crying racism if he gets axed in a few seasons for not winning his team’s fans a Super Bowl.
That didn’t work out too well for Mayo’s predecessor — a man who never seemed to be concerned with anything but what happened on the field.
