New England Sophomore Keion White Has Old-School Attitude
The New England Patriots selected Keion White in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Although the defensive lineman is still relatively new to professional football, he has an old-school attitude, making it easy to see why Bill Belichick liked him enough as a prospect to use the No. 46 overall selection in last year’s draft on the Georgia Tech product.

JuJu Smith-Schuster was among Patriots players lauding the “locker room vibes” in New England this season, but Keion White seems far less interested in such things. Although he began answering what changed similarly to Smith-Schuster, White’s answer then took a quick turn.
“We don’t have Bill (Belichick) cursing us out every play anymore, but it’s still pretty similar,” noted White about the atmosphere at Patriots OTAs. He then expanded on this thought.

“I miss it. I like Bill (Belichick)”, said White. “He’s my type of coach, like a hard-ss. I like that, I respond well to things like that.”

White responded in his rookie season by suiting up for 16 games. He finished with 26 tackles (12 solo), three tackles for loss, and five quarterback hits. It was a solid introduction to the NFL, though the Patriots will look for even more out of him in 2024.

Praise for the new Head Coach
Despite White’s fondness for Bill Belichick, he still appreciates what new head coach Jerod Mayo brings.
“(Jerod) Mayo’s doing a really good job staying true to himself,” noted White. “Not trying to fill somebody else’s shoes but create his own path, and I really respect that.”

Most importantly, the new coach hasn’t set off Keion White’s b.s. detector.

“I can respond to any coaching style as long as you’re genuine in who you are,” explained White. “So if you’re like a friendly coach and try to be a hard-ss, I’m going to see through that and challenge the b-llsh-t. And if you’re a hard-ss coach and trying to be super friendly, because you’re trying to cater to certain players, I’m going to see through that.”

White concluded, “I’d much rather you be yourself and be true to that, and that’s what Mayo’s doing.”