In the first year since Bill Belichick stepped away from the NFL, the New England Patriots gave the full-time head coach position to Jerod Mayo, a former player of theirs. Mayo and his team struggled in 2024, admittedly, he didn’t have a ton of talent with which to work.
Mayo was fired after the season. He now hits the market where he should see a decent number of suitors. He won’t land a head coaching role, at least not this offseason but offers a lot of value as a coach in a smaller role. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo thinks Mayo would be a good candidate for the Steelers as a linebackers coach.
“Mayo has never played or coached anywhere else,” Fittipaldo said Monday’s on the North Shore Drive podcast. “He’s always been a Patriot; obviously he’ll be looking for a job now. I like that idea. Bring somebody in who’s been a part of successful teams and see what he can add to your program. There’s a bunch of guys who are going to be out there like him, but Mayo would be perfect because he played linebacker in the league.”
Mayo did play linebacker in the NFL, and he did a good job at it. As Fittipaldo references, he spent all eight of his season as a player with the Patriots. Mayo won the Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2008, was named a first-team All-Pro in 2010, and made the Pro Bowl twice.
Mayo knows everything that comes with playing linebacker in the NFL. He used his expertise to transition into a coaching role after his playing career. While the 2024 season was the first one in which Mayo got the chance to lead his own team, his coaching career actually began a few years prior. Mayo started as a middle linebackers coach in 2019, before coaching the entire unit in 2022.
This is a spot that’s only recently opened up for the Steelers. Mike Tomlin promised change at the beginning of the offseason. Although it took awhile to see anything materialize, the first domino has now fallen. Aaron Curry had coached the inside linebacker position in Pittsburgh over the past two years. He has now moved on to the New York Jets.
The linebacker position was a complicated one for the Steelers in 2024. Led by veterans in Patrick Queen and Elandon Roberts, there certainly was talent there. Curry also oversaw Payton Wilson’s first NFL season, with the rookie coming up clutch on a few occasions. However, during the Steelers’ five-game losing streak to end the year, there were issues with miscommunications that plagued the unit.
Now the Steelers need a linebackers coach, and Mayo needs a job. There are a few potential candidates here, but Mayo would be a solid addition to Tomlin’s staff.
