Bill Belichick ruled over everything with the New England Patriots. His way or the highway, like no one else in Boston sports history.

Jerod Mayo hopes to turn that entire thing on its head.

As he gave his

“I don’t want to teach them what to think, I want to teach them how to think.”

Head Coach Jerod Mayo on building the Patriots culture. pic.twitter.com/pkEYdfuIoQ

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 17, 2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official introductory press conference as the Patriots’ new head coach, both Mayo and owner Robert Kraft stressed the idea of collaboration. They danced around the idea of a GM or one person having final say on football matters. Mayo, meanwhile, presented himself as a forward-thinking coach who is not just open to change, but embracing it.

And in the case of his predecessor, Mayo ostensibly wants to be the anti-Belichick in that he doesn’t want to dictate, to lord over, to mold everyone else into his image, to let things erode from within.

Belichick is certainly a brilliant football mind and earned the right to impart his knowledge on those under him, but it became clear that his philosophies had stagnated and his power had become too concentrated into his hands. He’d become too powerful for his own good.

Mayo is hitting the reset button on that – and doing the opposite.

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  FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 17: Newly appointed head coach Jerod Mayo of the New England Patriots speaks to the media during a press conference at Gillette Stadium on January 17, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

  “One thing you’ll notice about me in our interaction, as we continue to go, is I don’t like echo chambers,” Mayo said. “I want people around me that are going to question my ideas or question the way we have done things in the past. Because realistically, this game’s a lot different than when I was drafted in 2008. At the same time, that’s why I try to spend so much time in developing young men and young women. So they know, I don’t want to teach them what to think. I want to teach them how to think.

  “Once we get to that point, I think we can get back to where we need to be at the top. And I’m an open book. I’m honored, ready to go. And I’m excited to be the next head coach of the Patriots.”

• “I don’t want to teach them what to think, I want to teach them how to think.”
  
  Head Coach Jerod Mayo on building the Patriots culture. pic.twitter.com/pkEYdfuIoQ

  — New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 17, 2024

  It’s certainly one thing to say this, and another to actually put it into practice. Mayo is clearly going to be a major decision-maker inside the walls of Gillette Stadium, if not THE decision-maker. But instead of relying on the people around him to just do what he says, he’ll rely on them for their own individual knowledge and input.

  That’ll be a different kind of leadership than the Patriots were used to having for a long time. Now, let’s see it in action.

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  Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Check out all of Matt’s content.