Bill Belichick's sons, Steven and Brian, reportedly offered opportunity to remain with Patriots
Steven and Brian Belichick, the sons of former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, have both been extended opportunities to stay on incoming head coach Jerod Mayo's new staff, according to a Sports Illustrated report.
Even though their father and the team mutually agreed to part ways after 24 years, Steven and Brian may not be leaving the franchise.
Steven served as the team's linebackers coach and defensive play-caller, and Brian as the safeties coach
According to Sports Illustrated, Mayo developed a close relationship with Steven during Mayo's time as a linebacker and then as a position coach for New England.
Of course, SI reported that the decision to stay or go may hinge on Bill Belichick coaching another team next season.
The Patriots plan to formally introduce Mayo as the franchise's 15th head coach Wednesday.
Mayo, who was the 10th overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, spent his entire eight-year career with New England. In addition to being named Defensive Rookie of the Year, an All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowler, he was a Super Bowl champion (XLIX).
Four years after retiring, Mayo was hired as the Patriots' inside linebackers coach in 2019.
"I spent a lot of time with Steve in the dungeon, and we would go in there and break down film and talk ball," Mayo said in December. "Hearing it from him, from a coach's perspective — one of the greatest head coaches' sons; and then I brought the on-the-field perspective.
"Even back then, 2013, 2014, we just had a connection. We kind of spoke the same language. With that being said, when we game-planned [as coaches] and talked to the players and things like that, it was very natural. I love coaching with Steve."
Steven joined the staff in 2012 as a coaching assistant before he was promoted to safeties coach in 2016 and then finally elevated to linebackers coach in 2020. When Brian Flores was hired for the Miami Dolphins' head coaching job in 2019, Steven took over New England's defensive play-calling.
Brian was hired as a scouting assistant for the Patriots in 2016. A year later, he became a coaching assistant, and in 2020 he assumed the safeties coaching job after Steven's move to the linebackers.
