It’s a huge mistake to ever evaluate a coach in any sport by his introductory press conference.
Those things are very much like a wedding night.
Full of hope and optimism.
You know there’ll be work to do, but that can wait.
You’re still getting to know each other.
Everyone’s looking forward to what lies ahead.
And you’re on your best behavior.
Granted, on my wedding night I faced a lot of tough questions and struggled to answer them.
But that’s the exception.
Mostly these are feel-good experiences for all involved.
Jerod Mayo’s went just as well.
Belichick flipped that power dynamic upside down a generation ago.
And created a much less hostile arena for his replacement to walk into.
He was in total command of the room.
Provided they had any knowledge of football history.
Because of this guy:
In my case, only ironically.
Right now I’m at RKK.
But my social climbing is far from done.
Which Thun– Mr. Kraft pointed out was not a factor when he hired him.
Adding that he doesn’t see color when making personnel decisions.
Because everything now has to be twisted into something terrible now.
The way he treats people.
His words and mannerisms.
In fact, he intends to be a clone of Bill’s in every aspect of the job.
He said he’s not Belichick and is not going to have a go at be like him.
Though in Mayo’s case, I believe it.
Which I take as a positive step.
He might have also been alluding to Antonio Brown’s release in 2019.
That’s he’s looking to “rebuild some relationships, knock down silos and collaborate.”
And how he believes that players have changed since he came into the league 16 years ago.
That it’s not so much about telling them what to do and demanding they do it.
One point about that.
It was full of suggestions that sounded like Grade-A horseshit to me.
Give them frequent breaks so they can check their texts and social media posts, things like that.
I thought I was offering him up low-hanging fruit that he could mercilessly ridicule.
He surprised me by saying the exact opposite.
From playbooks in 3-ring binders to tablets, etc.
For better or worse, people do, in fact, change.
Even an old school guy like him understands coaching styles have to change with them.
It follows that Mayo is going to began by saying he’s going to be himself.
It’s going to be one hell of a fascinating social experiment seeing how it all works.
But so far, so good.
