Robert Kraft says he picked Jerod Mayo to be the team’s next head coach five years ago

When the Patriots parted ways with coach Bill Belichick, they instantly pivoted to Jerod Mayo. It quickly became obvious that the Patriots had a pre-existing arrangement with Mayo that he would succeed Belichick.

Appearing on Thursday’s Amazon Prime pregame show in advance of the Patriots-Jets game, New England owner Robert Kraft made a fresh disclosure.

Kraft told Taylor Rooks that he decided Mayo would succeed Belichick five years ago.

That’s the plan that was implemented after Kraft decided to move on from Belichick. So far, Mayo has gone 1-1 — and he had a chance to be 2-0. Tonight, Mayo will try to continue a mastery of the Patriots at MetLife Stadium that dates back to 2016.