Chasing a Champion: How Will Patriots Fill Belichick's Legendary Shoes?

Where the Green Bay Packers (Vince Lombardi), Chicago Bears (George Halas) and Miami Dolphins (Don Shula) failed, the New England Patriots will try to find a successful replacement for legendary coach Bill Belichick.

Now that the GOATs are gone, the New England Patriots must tend to the little task of replacing a legend.

By all accounts, Jerod Mayo is the leading candidate to follow in Bill Belichick's iconic footsteps. History suggests it's one of the most difficult things in sports: To be the guy after the guy.

In Green Bay, the Packers replaced Vince Lombardi and his seven championship trophies in the late 1960s with a forgettable successor (Phil Bengston) who went 20-21 and never made the playoffs in three years.

The Chicago Bears found four successors in four different decades for George Halas  and his six NFL titles - Ralph Jones, Hunk Anderson, Paddy Driscoll and Jim Dooley - without ever finding a suitable successor.

Don Shula and his two Super Bowls with the Miami Dolphins were followed by Jimmy Johnson, who only won two playoff games in four seasons.

The Boston Red Sox followed up Terry Francona's two World Series with Bobby Valentine in 2012. The coach after Phil Jackson's six titles for the Chicago Bulls in 1998? Tim Floyd. Neither replacement sniffed the postseason.

The transition from superstar to successor can be successful, but it takes Johnson winning two Super Bowls after taking over for Tom Landry for the Dallas Cowboys or Bill Russell winning two titles after Red Auerbach's nine with the Boston Celtics.

Unsuccessfully, Robert Kraft has already been trying to replace Tom Brady since 2020. Now also without Belichick - who combined with Brady for 105 more quarterback-coach wins than the next closes duo of Mike Tomlin-Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh - the Patriots are essentially charged with starting a pizza restaurant without any pepperoni or cheese.

Brady and Belichick, who combined to win six Super Bowls over 18 years, both left Foxboro in the span of 34 months.

Said Kraft of what he seeks in New England's next coach, "I'm looking for someone who can help us get back to the playoffs and win."

It won't be easy. 

Though Belichick's departure was long rumored - and expected - it will be an unfathomably awkward transition for the Patriots and their fans. From the quarter-century stability of Bill at the podium and on the sideline to ... the shock of seeing a fresh face in charge.

This will be team's first coaching search since 2000. Since then, NFL teams have hired 162 coaches including 28 alone in the AFC East among the Dolphins (11), Buffalo Bills (10) and New York Jets (7).

After a successful career as a linebacker in which he was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2008, led the league in tackles in 2010, went to two Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl XLIX in 2015, Mayo was hired by Belichick to coach the Pats' inside linebackers in 2019. His reputation and influence grew, and last offseason he was courted by the Carolina Panthers to be their head coach and the Cleveland Browns to be defensive coordinator. Instead, Mayo turned down the offers, signed a contract extension with the Pats and became the unofficial "coach in waiting" in Foxboro.

Said Kraft of Mayo last year: "There's no ceiling on his ability to be a head coach."

Belichick's successor will inherit a 4-13 team with a depleted roster and a weakened culture. The Pats are without a franchise quarterback, any offensive playmakers and have no players going to the Pro Bowl for the first time since 2000. They had the NFL's worst offense this season, and long-time team leaders Matthew Slater and David Andrews are mulling retirement.

Over their last 25 games the Pats are 7-18. Only the Arizona Cardinals (5-20) have been worse.

Beyond Belichick: Leading Candidates to Be Next Patriots Coach

They do, however, enter the offseason with burgeoning stars in cornerback Christian Gonzalez and receiver DeMario Douglas, the league's second-most salary-cap room and the No. 3 overall pick in April's NFL Draft.

"The last three years have been pretty tough," Kraft said. "In life, things happen. What's gone on isn't what we want. This is a results business ... something isn't quite right from where it was."

As if assumed successor Mayo's task wasn't tall enough, he's not only following Belichick. New England's last three coaches will all wind up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Bill Parcells, Pete Carroll and Belichick.

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