Former New England Patriots coach Jerod Mayo has officially stepped away from football a second time, taking a managing director role at Fifth Down Capital after a prior run in coaching ended with his dismissal as head coach.
When Jerod Mayo stepped away from football after his playing days, the move felt like a pause between lives. Now it looks like the second chapter is ending the same way.
Mayo has officially left the game for a second time. In February 2026. he took a job in the business world as a managing director at Fifth Down Capital. a private equity and business capital firm. He posted the news on his LinkedIn profile. confirming a return to the corporate side after years tied directly to the Patriots.
The Patriots connection runs deep. A first-round pick in 2008, Mayo played in New England for eight years before transitioning into the business track. After his NFL playing career, he spent three years as the V.P. of business development at Optum, a healthcare services company and a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group.
He came back to football in 2019, returning to the Patriots as inside linebackers coach. Early in 2023, Mayo signed an extension that included an agreement to eventually succeed Bill Belichick as head coach.
That plan shifted after the 2023 season. Belichick was fired, and Mayo was promoted into the head-coaching role. The end result was brief and brutal for the Patriots: after Mayo’s first season, during which New England went 4-13, the team decided to part ways with him.
Mayo, 40, could still return to coaching in theory. For now, at least, he is moving on from football again—this time with a managing director title and a new start that looks like more than a detour.
Jerod Mayo New England Patriots Fifth Down Capital Optum UnitedHealth Group Bill Belichick managing director inside linebackers coach
So basically he quit football again, like what is this man doing.
I don’t get it, if he was supposed to succeed Belichick then why bail to some finance job? Seems backwards to me. Also LinkedIn?? lol
This article makes it sound like he got fired then went to “private equity” like that’s the same as coaching. I saw somewhere Mayo’s contract was gonna work different, like he was already out after 4-13. But then again Belichick got fired so maybe they blamed Mayo and sent him to Optum? Either way, Fifth Down Capital sounds like a casino.
As a Patriots fan I’m like… they keep cycling coaches and then acting surprised. 4-13 and then “managing director” at some firm? Money must be good. I swear every time I hear Jerod Mayo I think it’s about Belichick drama, not business. Does he even still know playbooks anymore or is he just done done.