Jerod Mayo makes his strongest case yet to be the Patriots head coach

The New England Patriots are at a crossroads with Bill Belichick. A split between the team and their long time head coach feels more likely it's ever felt before.

Speculation about Belichick's future looks like it could continue beyond the end of the regular season. The question of who should succeed Belichick if he does indeed exit shouldn't take too long to answer though.

Jerod Mayo is the obvious replacement and his recent comments only reinforce that.

The Patriots inside linebackers coach spoke to local media and essentially had an open job interview, H/T Audacy. He laid out his coaching philosophy, especially how it translates to a younger generation of athletes who may not respond as readily to old-school coaching.

“From a coach’s perspective, our job is to put a mirror in front of your face and really show what you are doing on the field and hopefully you can take that out of love. That’s the way I coach. That’s the way a lot of us here coach, we coach out of love. So once you build that relationship with a guy you can be tough on the players. But if you don’t have that…I always talk about warmth before competence. Like at this stage, it was a little different back when I played. Whatever the coach told you to do, you just go out and do it. This generation is a little bit different where they really want to have accountability, they really want to understand the why.”

There's a clear contrast to Belichick there that could work in Mayo's favor. He's learned from the best but he'd also be a clear change of pace for the Patriots. His ability to connect with players on a personal level sets him apart from other Belichick protoges who have failed as head coaches like Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia.

The Patriots may bring back Belichick, but Mayo represents the future. New England risks losing him if they wait too long to give him his shot.

“So when I think about when I do get my opportunity, and I don’t know when that’s going to be. And honestly, I’m kind of like a dry leaf blowing in the wind wherever God takes me, Mayo said. "But at the same time I feel like I’m prepared. I feel like I am ready. I feel like I can talk to men, women, old, young, white, black it doesn’t matter. And hopefully develop those people into upstanding citizens and help them evolve."