Table of Contents
FOXBORO, Mass. – Back in July, when Jerod Mayo arrived on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium for his first training camp as coach of the New England Patriots, many prognosticators saw a team rebuilding that was on the cusp of a big time. That the Patriots finished the season with a dismal 4-13 record shouldn’t be considered a huge surprise.
Why then has Mayo been eliminated as coach after just one season? We can pick one or the other coaching decision or non-decision, but it wasn’t just what happened on the pitch that suggested Mayo weren’t ready for primetime. It was also what happened on the record. Almost from the beginning, Mayo’s various media appearances, from press conferences to his weekly morning drive interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” ranged from contradictory and awkward to an unfortunate affair that had a whiff of an old-fashioned cash grab.
GO DEEPER
Patriots fire Jerod Mayo after one season, expected to pursue Mike Vrabel
Not a single statement from Mayo led to Patriots fans clamoring for a coaching change. After all, he is a former Patriots linebacker who was teammates with the likes of Tom Brady, Wes Welker and Randy Moss during his eight seasons in Foxboro. Vince Wilfork, Tedy Bruschi, Rob Ninkovich and Devin McCourty. He also played with Mike Vrabel, the man who could soon be wooed as Mayo’s replacement.
It’s safe to say Pats fans were rooting for Mayo. But as the verbal missteps continued, it became increasingly clear that Mayo did not have the right amount of training to be a head coach in the NFL.
Statement from Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft: https://t.co/2YgHtzzBHK pic.twitter.com/GMXGgd768x
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 5, 2025
Mayo hit the right note when he was introduced as the replacement for the legendary Bill Belichick, such as when he said, “For me, I’m not trying to be Bill,” and, “The more I think about the lessons I’ve learned” I I took it from Bill: hard work works.” He did raise some eyebrows when he repeatedly referred to Patriots owner Robert Kraft as “Young Thundercat” and “Thunder.” Mayo later explained that he came up with the nicknames because he felt Kraft, who turned 83 in June, has a “young soul.”
No harm, no foul on that one. But later, as losses piled up and Mayo’s public statements came under greater scrutiny, “Young Thundercat” and “Thunder” were re-examined by critics who believed Mayo had landed the coaching gig because he had become particularly intimate with Kraft over the years. the years. Kraft himself has said he was inspired to see Mayo as a future NFL head coach during the time they spent together during a 2019 trip to Israel.
But it was after the introductory press conference, and after Mayo moved into the redecorated coaches’ office at Gillette Stadium, that the media missteps began to pile up.
An example:
‘Ready to burn some money’
Mayo appeared on WEEI on January 22, just over a week after being named coach, and indicated that the Patriots would not limit their roster building to the NFL Draft. “We are bringing in talent, 1,000 percent,” he said. “Have a lot of cap space and cash. Ready to burn some money.”
The Patriots had somewhere north of $60 million in cap space, but the new coach quickly walked back that comment. “You know, I was a little wrong when I said ‘burn some money,’ but I was excited when you saw those numbers,” Mayo told MassLive’s Karen Guregian. “But when you think about those numbers, you don’t have to spend it all in one year.”
After a week of free agency, with most of the top names off the board, the Patriots’ roster “doesn’t look or feel all that different from last season’s 4-13,” The AthleticsChad Graff wrote. They brought in journeyman quarterback Jacoby Brissett on a one-year deal for around $8 million.
The mixed messages at quarterback
Almost from the moment the Patriots selected quarterback Drake Maye with the third pick in the draft, Mayo said there would be a “competition” for the job between the rookie (Maye) and the veteran (Brissett). Nothing unusual there, as this is a standard quote from coaches after a shiny new draft pick has his introductory hug with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and is introduced to the media.
But things got complicated when Mayo repeatedly said Maye outperformed Brissett in preseason, such as when the new coach went to WEEI and said, “This was or is a real competition. It wasn’t fluff or anything like that. It’s a real competition. And I’d say Drake has surpassed Jacoby at this point.
GO DEEPER
Mike Vrabel, Brian Flores and the top candidates to become the Patriots’ next head coach
Which brings us to an August 28 media availability in Mayo that lasted just a few seconds north of a minute.
“We have decided — or I have decided — that Jacoby Brissett will be our starting quarterback this season,” Mayo said.
After all, the competition was lackluster.
Jerod Mayo is the latest coach to get just one season in charge before being fired.https://t.co/LIr8PTbGY7 pic.twitter.com/VdDhmC0sa4
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) January 5, 2025
‘We are a soft football team across the board’
Mayo said this to the media after the Patriots’ 32-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 20 in London. It was New England’s sixth straight loss after their season-opening 16-10 win over Cincinnati.
Not only did Mayo say, “We are a soft football team across the board,” he also took the time to define what makes a team “strong.”
“What makes a strong football team?” Mayo asked. “Being able to run the ball and stop the run and cover kicks, and we didn’t do any of that today.”
This was followed by what was now called Walkback Monday.
“We play soft,” Mayo said during his weekly WEEI hit. “Look, let me just go ahead and correct that. Were to play soft. Because if you go back to training camp, there was definitely some toughness everywhere. We still have the same players. We just have to play like that.”
It worked for Belichick
There was a lot of fuss about Mayo’s clock management late in the fourth quarter of the Patriots’ 25-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 1 at Gillette Stadium. As the Colts moved the ball into the end zone, Mayo didn’t burn any timeouts to keep his team’s last-ditch drive alive when necessary.
The Colts, trailing 24-17, rallied for a three-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Richardson to Alec Pierce, followed by Richardson’s run on the conversion attempt, giving Indy a 25-24 lead. There were only 12 seconds left in the game, which ended with Joey Slye’s failed 68-yard field goal attempt.
“Absolutely, there was a thought,” Mayo said afterward when asked if he considered using timeouts. “We also won a Super Bowl here by doing it the other way around. I thought keeping our timeouts was the best thing for our team.”
Mayo was referring to the Patriots’ 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, when Belichick ran the clock on Seattle’s final drive. It worked for the Patriots, thanks to Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s dazzling pass attempt to Ricardo Lockette on second goal from the New England 1, which Malcolm Butler miraculously intercepted to secure New England’s victory.
The next morning on WEEI…
“I shouldn’t have said that,” Mayo said. “When I said it, first of all I was frustrated, which should have made me take a deep breath. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Does anyone have the license plate of that bus?
The Patriots’ 30–17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on December 15 was overshadowed by the team’s inability to get a crucial first down on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 from the 4-yard line of Arizona. The Pats tried with runs from Antonio Gibson and Rhamondre Stevenson, both of which went nowhere, leading to this obvious post-game question for Mayo: Why not let Maye, a big, mobile quarterback, sneak in for a bit?
“You said it, I didn’t,” Mayo responded, which was widely seen as a criticism of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Mayo then continued with, “It’s always my decision, I would say look, the quarterback obviously has a good pair of legs and can drive the ball well. We simply chose not to do it there.”
The next morning, on Walkback Monday, Mayo cleared up the comment during a conference call with the media.
“I know there was a lot of talk last night about, ‘You said that,’” Mayo said. “I didn’t mean anything by that. It was more of a defensive response and I ended up trying to clarify that with the follow-up question. Because ultimately all those decisions are mine. So I just wanted to get that out there.”
Mayo then went on to his weekly WEEI hit, saying he “shouldn’t have done that. Just like I tell the players, I’m still learning how these things work.
The bank that wasn’t
On December 28, less than an hour before the Patriots were scheduled to host the Los Angeles Chargers, Mayo went on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s pregame show and responded to Stevenson’s recent fumbling troubles by telling Scott Zolak, “Gibby is going for today us starting,” referring to Gibson.
The game started and on New England’s first possession it was Stevenson who carried the ball for a gain of 5 yards.
Why this sudden change of heart?
“Coach’s decision,” Mayo said after the Patriots’ 40-7 loss to the Chargers.
LIVE: Patriots Postgame Press Conferences: https://t.co/kY9REgnEZn
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 5, 2025
The Patriots ended their season Sunday with a 23-16 victory against the playoff Buffalo Bills in what may be the most sparsely attended game in Gillette Stadium’s 23-year history.
Mayo was asked 15 questions during his post-game media availability.
The last question: How would you best summarize this year, and have you perhaps learned that the team is a little further away than you expected?
“I’m not going to get into that,” Mayo said. “Like I said, tomorrow we’ll have a lot of time to talk about those things, but tonight it’s all about these guys going out and winning a football game.”
That’s something Mayo doesn’t need to walk back.
Free, daily NFL updates delivered straight to your inbox.
Free, daily NFL updates delivered straight to your inbox.
To register
(Photo: Billie Weiss/Getty Images)