Patriots' Mayo Backtracks On 'Hard-Ass' Criticism of Belichick

The New England Patriots aren't interested in trashing Bill Belichick's legacy.

After former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick spent 24 years developing "The Patriot Way," the club seems keen on going in a drastically different direction in their first offseason without him.

Speaking to reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday, de facto general manager Eliot Wolf said there is "less of a hard-ass type vibe" in the Patriots building than when Belichick was in charge. With the Internet being the way that it is, many onlookers took Wolf's comment as a shot at Belichick and the previous regime as a whole.

However, that was not Wolf's intention at all. On Wednesday, new coach Jerod Mayo cleared the air on the perceived shot, stating that while he may operate differently than his predecessor, there's still a great deal of respect to what came before.

Source: NBC Sports Boston

"It's going to be different, but at the same time, I would say Bill (Belichick) did a great job for a long period of time," Mayo told reporters in Indianapolis. "I don't want you guys to take this as, because we're changing, that's shots towards the previous regime."

"In saying that, we will do it differently and it'll feel different. But at the end of the day, we would like to replicate the success that the prior regime has had. So I learned a lot from Bill and also his staff, but now we'll see what this chapter looks like."

The aura in the building isn't the only change the Patriots are making in the post-Belichick era. New England's brass also stated that they intend to change the way they evaluate draft prospects, which should result in fewer questionable reaches than in recent years.

Eliot Wolf: Bring Patriots Back to ‘Respectability’; Draft Quarterback No. 3?

So, while the Patriots may be going in a different direction now, they are still paying respect to the way Belichick operated. After all, he led them to six Super Bowls in 20 years, so his tactics clearly have some value.

---