Patriots Rumors: Belichick Backed Kraft's 'Secret' Plan for Jerod Mayo in Jan. 2023

Longtime New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick reportedly knew about and supported the plan for Jerod Mayo to be his successor.

According to Chad Graff of The Athletic, the Patriots put the successor language in Mayo's contract in January 2023, and it was also included in Belichick's reworked contract.

Outside of owner Robert Kraft, Belichick, Mayo and key members of the organization knowing about idea, Graff noted that Mayo taking over was a "secret" plan.

Graff added that Belichick would have remained the Pats' head coach through 2024 "in an ideal situation" since it would have allowed him to potentially surpass Don Shula's all-time NFL head coaching wins record in New England, and it also would have given Belichick more time to prepare Mayo to take over for him.

Instead, Belichick and Kraft announced this week that they mutually agreed to part ways, paving the way for Mayo to become the new head coach.

Since Mayo was contractually named Belichick's successor, the Patriots did not have to interview anyone outside the organization.

There was some thought externally that the Pats would at least speak with University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh and former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, the latter of whom won three Super Bowls as a Patriots linebacker, but that didn't happen.

According to Graff, Kraft decided to follow his "intuition" with regard to Mayo, just like he did when he hired Belichick in 2000.

The 71-year-old Belichick enjoyed unprecedented success during his 24 seasons as Patriots head coach, winning six Super Bowls and 17 AFC East titles.

Belichick went 266-121 in New England, plus 30-12 in the playoffs. When taking into account has time as head coach of the Cleveland Browns as well, Belichick has 302 regular-season wins and 333 total wins to his credit.

He is now 26 wins behind Shula for the all-time regular-season wins record and 14 wins behind Shula when factoring in playoff victories.

All signs point toward Belichick continuing to coach elsewhere, so if he surpasses Shula's record, it won't be as a member of the Patriots.

As for Mayo, he has no experience as a head coach, so Kraft is taking a significant leap of faith by promoting him.

Mayo was a Patriots linebacker from 2008 to 2015, earning two Pro Bowl selections, the 2008 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award and one Super Bowl win.

Belichick hired him as inside linebackers coach in 2019, and he was slowly groomed to be Belichick's eventual replacement.

Mayo has a tough task ahead of him, as the Pats have missed the playoffs in three of four seasons since the departure of quarterback Tom Brady, including this season when they went 4-13, which was their worst mark under Belichick.

The biggest key to Mayo's success may be finding a franchise quarterback, which New England may be able to do in the 2024 NFL draft since it owns the No. 3 overall pick.

USC's Caleb Williams, North Carolina's Drake Maye and LSU's Jayden Daniels are all viewed as likely first-round picks, and any of them could make life easier for Mayo if they step in and play high-level football at the quarterback position out of the gates.