Devin McCourty: Patriots Hired 'Belichick's Favorite'

Devin McCourty was hardly surprised to see Jerod Mayo selected as Bill Belichick's New England Patriots successor.

Devin McCourty knew that former head coach Bill Belichick liked to play favorites to the point where he correctly deduced he was playing alongside the eventual heir to the Foxborough throne.

Count McCourty among the many who are hardly shocked to see the New England Patriots waste no time in kicking off the post-Belichick era: mere hours after it was confirmed that the team would sever ties with the overseer of six Super Bowl runs, the team internally promoted former defender and linebackers coach Jerod Mayo to the lead headset.

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“Everybody knows that he was Bill’s favorite,” McCourty recalled to Khari Thompson of Boston.com shortly after the hire. "Who knew this whole time he was training to be the next Belichick of the Patriots? I know that he’s going to be (ticked) that I said that.”

In the grand scheme of New England greatness, Mayo perhaps had a bit of a muted role: he played only eight seasons (2008-15) after joining the team as the 10th overall pick of the NFL Draft and his lone Super Bowl ring was earn in absentia after a torn patellar cost him most of the 2014 season and spelled the beginning of the end of his playing career. That's hardly anything compared to the lasting prescience of McCourty, one of only two New England defenders to play at least 200 games with the franchise.

But McCourty feels like Mayo was able to leave a lasting impression during his relatively brief New England career, one that produced the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award in a class that also featured Calais Campbell and Aqib Talib, first-team All-Pro honors after leading the league in tackles in 2010, and defensive captaincy honors in just his second season.

Of course, it also means the world that Mayo was able to earn the respect and recognition of the notoriously hard-to-please Belichick, to the point where he's been given the reigns of the Patriots at the relatively young age of 37. 

"The way he came in, Defensive Rookie of the Year. (Patriots owner Bob) Kraft talked about it,” McCourty said, recalling Mayo's introductory remarks earlier this week. “You’re a captain in your second year. That spoke about not only his leadership, but I think also how he got along with everybody on the team."

“Because, when you get voted as a captain in your second year. Some of the guys you were rookies with last year might vote for you but you still need the older guys, the veterans to vote for you. That just shows how much respect he had from the guys.”

While acknowledging the steep hill Mayo has to climb to drag the Patriots from the cesspool of the past season's four-win slog, McCourty also believes that his relative youth, which has already cultivated lucrative coaching and playing careers, will work to the benefit of young New Englanders learning how to win.

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"Current players enjoy playing for former players,” McCourty noted. “They enjoy hearing those old battle stories. They enjoy those guys saying ‘hey, I know where you’re at, I was in your shoes.’ I went to training camp when it was way harder than what you’re doing now.' All those things make you more relatable and I think most importantly helps you build a culture for a team that will go out there and compete,”