Jerod Mayo shared what Matthew Slater’s, Ben McAdoo’s duties with Patriots will be

"Ben has tremendous experience," Mayo told reporters of McAdoo at Saturday's rookie minicamp.

Jerod Mayo’s elevation to Patriots head coach has brought back the return of standard titles throughout the team’s staff, but there were still a pair of coaches whose roles with the team were relatively unknown.

Ben McAdoo joined the Patriots this offseason as a senior offensive assistant while Matthew Slater was hired for a full-time role following his retirement over the offseason.

Mayo provided some clarity on what both McAdoo and Slater will do for the Patriots this upcoming season.

“Ben has tremendous experience,” Mayo told reporters of McAdoo at Saturday’s rookie minicamp. “He has coached every position on the offensive side of the ball, so he was one of those catch-all players, just in case, as we started to build out the coaching staff. He has a great history, great background.

“He also helps me with some of the scheduling stuff, almost like an assistant head coach type of role there. But I do have a small circle of people I lean on as far as that is concerned.”

While McAdoo’s title might not be the most prestigious, he’s the only member of Mayo’s staff who’s been a head coach before. He was the Giants’ head coach for two seasons (2016-17) and has three seasons of NFL offensive coordinator experience under his belt, bringing some seniority to a relatively younger coaching staff.

As for Slater, Mayo remarked that he was “happy” to have his former teammate on staff, sharing that he’ll be an advisor who’ll help him in multiple areas.

“He is an advisor for me on all things football, and honestly, the things off the field,” Mayo said. “He is a very smart individual and I would say we see most things the same way. And at the same time, I know he is a guy that will be honest with me. Once you put the head coach hat on, it is hard to find people that are honest with you.”

Slater has been present with the team throughout offseason workouts, with players commenting about how good it’s been to have his presence remain in Foxborough while he’s also been seen on the practice field.

Mayo added that player development will be part of Slater’s duties. Of course, the development of Drake Maye will be the most vital for Mayo early on in his tenure as Patriots head coach. New England selected Maye with the third overall pick in last month’s draft in hopes that he’ll be its quarterback of the future.

While Maye is a highly promising quarterback prospect, they were in the position to select him after their previous first-round quarterback regressed, partly due to an unusual offensive coaching setup.

Mayo indicated that the way the Patriots will run things with their quarterbacks will be similar to how the rest of the league, with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt serving as the lead voice in Maye’s ear.

“That’s a great question,” Mayo said when asked which coach will primarily work with Maye. “You know, across the league, most offensive coordinators, they interact with the quarterback, the starting quarterback for the most part. We do have a group of coaches that have quarterback backgrounds, but I would say overall it would be AVP (Alex Van Pelt) as far as that lead guy.”

Mayo added that he doesn’t want to have “Drake hearing too many voices,” pointing to Van Pelt as the coach who’ll lead his development.

“You hear all these voices, but you have to have a small circle that you really talk to and trust. I think AVP is in that circle,” Mayo said. “I know AVP is in that circle with Drake and the rest of the quarterbacks.”

Meanwhile, Mayo has spread himself out through all areas of the team in his first offseason as head coach, but he’s worked on one side of the ball more than the other.

“Honestly, I have been over with the offense more than I have been with the defense,” Mayo said. “And that just goes back to continuing to grow and continuing to learn, like I said in those offensive meetings as well. I am learning right alongside those guys.

“As far as practice is concerned, I am going to bounce around, offense, defense, special teams. I mean, they all play a huge part in winning football games, but that is the benefit of having a bigger staff, or a larger staff, so I am able to do that.”