When you start a new job, you want to ensure you’re on point with everybody. Even if you don’t always communicate with them, you want to ensure that you’re going to do what’s right. You will install a good culture, be easygoing, and, most importantly, approachable. These thoughts are not exclusive to the corporate world. In sports, they’re pivotal, too. When you’re a new coach, you want to make sure that everyone is on the same page, from the players to the executives and even the media. It’s all important. The new head coach of the New England Patriots, Jerod Mayo, seems to know that lesson.
Mayo already won many people over after his introductory press conference. So if anything, the perspective he shared on Wednesday will win him over with many more, especially the media.
Mayo arrived at the Patriots’ media room and laid down the plan for the day. He told the media that they’d all get the opportunity to speak with the new coaches on the staff. The situation that Mayo described was remarkably media-friendly.
“Today is really about the new coaches. We’ll have our coordinators up here to speak to you guys,” Mayo told reporters in the room. He specified that seventeen new coaches would come into the room to “vibe and connect” with the media.
“They know that our relationship with the media’s very important,” Mayo said. He later added, “At the same time, I think there needs to be a good relationship between the two groups. I’ll try to make myself available as much as possible. Today is just about the new coaches and coordinators.”
Jerod Mayo arrives and explains what today is about … and how he hopes the coach/media dynamic evolves. pic.twitter.com/x4XPf7VkBU
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) February 21, 2024
While some coaches have proven chalky with the media, it seems Mayo is going with the opposite approach. Transparency and availability are two flagship qualities. So the fact that he’s undertaken them off the bat says a lot about him and what the Pats will offer with him as their head coach.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022