Robert Kraft told the world on Thursday that the Patriots would be deciding on their next head coach in a matter of days, and there was only one person they could hire without going through the traditional, timely interviewing process.

The Patriots hired Jerod Mayo as their new head coach on Friday morning, a source told the Herald. Mayo, who previously served as the Patriots’ linebackers coach, had a clause in his contract with an agreement that he would be Bill Belichick’s successor, according to a source. The Patriots and Belichick announced they were mutually parting ways on Thursday. The clause allowed the Patriots to hire Mayo without conducting a full head-coaching search under the NFL’s Rooney Rule, according to the NFL’s anti-tampering policy.

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“The future – I know there’ll be a lot of questions about the future, and we’ll have a chance to cover that in the next few days – but, I’m not sure today is the time to do it,” Kraft said in an opening statement Thursday afternoon before answering questions.

Kraft was later asked if the team planned to hire a head coach or general manager first.

“Until we settle what we settled yesterday and announced today, we will try to move very quickly to solve those issues,” Kraft said. “We’ll have a chance to talk about that in the very near future.”

Now that Mayo is on board, what are the next steps?

Formal announcement

Expect the Patriots to schedule a news conference to formally announce Mayo’s hiring next week.

Kraft gave a hint of what he thinks of Mayo as a head coach on Thursday when describing what he was looking for to fill the position.

“We’re looking for someone who can help us get back to the playoffs and win,” Kraft said. “Believe me, after my family, this is really one of the two most important assets in my life. I am very upset when we don’t win games. It carries the whole week. So, I promise you I’ll be focused to do the best I can do to make sure we’re putting ourselves in the best long-term position to win for many years.”

Last March, Kraft said of Mayo, “There’s no ceiling on his ability to be a head coach.”

Filling out the staff

There will likely be a division of the Patriots’ coaching staff with Mayo staying and Belichick departing. Kraft said Friday that Belichick still wants to coach. He could decide to bring along many of his assistants if Kraft allows those still under contract to leave.

Here’s the full current coaching staff: assistant head coach/special teams Joe Judge, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks Bill O’Brien, assistant quarterbacks Evan Rothstein, running backs Vinnie Sunseri, wide receivers/kick returners Troy Brown, tight ends Will Lawing, offensive line Adrian Klemm, assistant offensive line Billy Yates, defensive line DeMarcus Covington, director of skill development/defensive line Joe Kim, linebackers Steve Belichick, cornerbacks Mike Pellegrino, safeties Brian Belichick, NFL coaching fellowship/defense Keith Jones, special teams coordinator Cameron Achord, special teams assistant Joe Houston, head strength and conditioning Moses Cabrera, strength and conditioning assistant Deron Mayo.

Two of the major questions that still need to be answered: Will Mayo retain O’Brien as offensive coordinator, and will the Belichick brothers follow their father to his new team?

If O’Brien is retained, then there is still expected to be changes to the offensive staff. O’Brien inherited Rothstein, Sunseri, Brown, Klemm and Yates when he took over as offensive coordinator last offseason. The only coach he brought with him was Lawing.

Steve Belichick has called defensive plays since 2019, when Brian Flores left for the Dolphins and Mayo, Steve Belichick and Bill Belichick took over defensive coordinator duties. There would certainly be some value in retaining Steve Belichick to continue calling plays as Mayo’s defensive coordinator. But you couldn’t blame any of the Belichicks for wanting to continue working together.

If Steve Belichick leaves, then Covington is viewed around the team and league as an ascending defensive coordinator candidate.

Hiring a head of personnel

Belichick held dual roles as head coach and de facto general manager within the Patriots organization. The Patriots have their head coach. Now they need someone to run their personnel department.

There’s not as much of a rush to get this done. The Patriots still have a full personnel staff preparing for the draft and free agency.

“We got work to do regardless of who is or isn’t in charge,” one team source told the Herald on Tuesday.

The Patriots’ front office staff is currently split, as well, with some scouts in Orlando for this week’s Hula Bowl, a college football all-star game. They’ll attend the East-West Shrine Bowl and Senior Bowl practices starting later this month.

The top contenders for the top personnel job include internal candidates and former general managers with Patriots ties. Director of scouting Eliot Wolf, director of player personnel Matt Groh, director of college scouting Camren Williams and senior personnel advisor Pat Stewart are currently on staff. Ex-Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler, ex-Titans general manager Jon Robinson and ex-Lions general manager Bob Quinn are available. Current 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters got his start in the Patriots’ scouting department.