FOXBOROUGH, Mass. _ On Sunday, Steve Belichick stood on the Patriots sideline with a sheet of defensive play calls in his right hand. On his head sat a headset, which allowed him to radio in each play to the Patriots defense on the field. He stood next to inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, which has become a usual sight for the Patriots sideline in 2019.
This year, after losing de facto-defensive coordinator Brian Flores and then his replacement, Greg Schiano, there's been plenty of speculation about the identity of the Patriots new defensive coordinator. The two obvious guesses have been Mayo and Belichick. Bill Belichick (and these coaches) won't tell us what exactly is going on, but it's easy to see the younger Belichick is quickly rising up the ranks here in Foxborough.
"Not to beat around the bush, but my responsibilities are different whether it's more or less. It's just different," Steve Belichick said. "I'm at a different stage of my career than I was eight years ago. You could call it more on my plate or you could call it growth in my roll. I don't really look at it as more on my plate. I'm excited for whatever opportunities I can get."
On paper, Steve Belichick received a promotion this year when the Patriots named him the secondary, safeties coach. He spent the previous three years as just the safeties coach and worked as a coaching assistant before that for four seasons.
However, a closer look shows that that Bill Belichick's older son is on his way to becoming a defensive coordinator in the NFL sooner than later. Early this season, the thought was that Mayo had taken over as the Patriots defensive play caller. Now it seems like the former Patriots linebacker and Steve Belichick have both been calling defensive plays this season.
The work put in by both coaches has been evident to the players around them.
"We rely on them a lot _ to not only make the calls, but to get good information back to us on the sideline," Harmon said of Steve Belichick and Mayo. "They've been doing a tremendous job ... They continue to get better. Week by week from all the way back to May to OTAs to now."
Patriots safety Duron Harmon has noticed steady growth by Steve Belichick, who replaced Flores as the team's safeties coach in 2016. Prior to coming to the Patriots, he earned a crash course is coaching at Rutgers as the team's long snapper under Schiano. The former Rutgers coach taught Steve Belichick plenty.
After Schiano left this offseason, due to personal reasons, it opened up more opportunity for the young coach. The increased responsibility has led to continued growth. Mayo has also seen in. His relationship with Steve Belichick goes back to his playing days in Foxborough.
When Mayo was injured, he said he spent hours sitting with Steve Belichick breaking down film. That relationship has helped the pair this season. Off the field, Mayo sees someone who's smart, respected and has no problem commanding the defensive meeting room. Steve Belichick started learning about X's and O's from his father a long time ago.
"Just his attention to detail. You talk about a guy who grew up around football, right?" Mayo said. "He's also one of those guys, like his dad, appreciates the history of the game, appreciates the X's and O's and how the game's evolved. He's always dropping some nuggets on us."
When asked about working with Mayo and doing whatever it exactly is on the sideline, Steve Belichick admitted he was having fun.
"It's what you work for _ to go out and compete on Sundays," Steve Belichick said. "We've got a great group of defensive players. They play hard. It's been a lot of fun working with Jerod and everybody on staff."
Of course, ask Steve Belichick about calling plays and he'll play coy _ that's the Patriots way. This season, it wouldn't be a surprise if Bill Belichick was putting together the defensive game plan and then Mayo and Steve Belichick were executing it.
Whatever the arrangement is, it's working. The defense is leading the league in points allowed. On top of that, it's clear there's another Belichick on the rise in the NFL.
"I'm just happy to be here. Happy to keep working," Steve Belichick said. "Doing everything I can to be here tomorrow."
