Patriots' Josh Uche Praises New Coach Jerod Mayo: 'Great Teacher!'
It's officially a new era for the New England Patriots, as Jerod Mayo is the man in charge after the departure of legendary coach Bill Belichick.
Whether or not linebacker Josh Uche is part of that new era remains to be seen, as the fourth-year linebacker is set to hit free agency this offseason. Regardless of if Uche stays in New England or not, he's excited to see what Mayo can do leading the way.
cred: USA Today Sports
“In my opinion, Jerod Mayo is a great hire,” Uche said on NBC Sports Boston's Patriot Talk podcast. “When I first got here, Jerod was my position coach. I was very young, had a lot of maturing to do. He had a lot of patience with me and just the lens he sees the game through is just a very creative lens and gives the players a lot of flexibility to maximize their talents.”
A 2020 second-round pick who had 11.5 sacks in 2022, Uche is one of the top players Mayo has worked with. The former All-Pro was the Patriots' linebackers coach for the past five seasons, and his influence is not lost on anyone who has learned under him.
“He’s a great teacher,” Uche said. “He gives us a canvas to paint on, and as long as we paint within the framework of the canvas it’s whatever picture we want to paint in.
"There are different things that you may not be seeing from a player’s perspective; him being a former player, he’s able to give us a lot more insight and little tidbits that might make the game slow down more for us.”
Mayo, now the league's youngest coach at 37 years old, has the unenviable task of succeeding Belichick as his first head-coaching job, but seemingly everyone in the organization believes he's the man for the job. Not only did the front office groom him to be Belichick's replacement, but his players have the utmost respect for him.
