Patriots Fans Praise Jerod Mayo Hire After Bill Belichick's Departure as Head Coach

The New England Patriots and Bill Belichick mutually agreed to part ways on Thursday. One day later, the franchise has promoted inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo to be his successor, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Mayo, 37, is the 15th head coach in franchise history and is now the youngest head coach in the NFL, taking over the title from Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay.

Mayo was a linebacker for the Patriots from 2008 to 2015 and he joined Belichick's coaching staff as a linebackers coach in 2019. New England established a succession plan in his contract extension last offseason, which is why they didn't conduct a formal head coaching search.

Patriots fans appear to be pleased with the promotion, too:

No one will likely replicate the success Belichick was able to sustain in New England, but Mayo is a solid choice as his successor as he spent more than a decade playing and coaching under the franchise icon.