The New England Patriots fired head coach Jerod Mayo on Sunday after just one season, marking another fresh start for the team following last year’s decision to part ways with longtime coach Bill Belichick.
Owner Robert Kraft announced Mayo’s firing shortly after the Patriots ended their 4-13 season with a 23-16 win against the Buffalo Bills.
“After the game I informed Jerod Mayo that he will not be returning as the head coach of the New England Patriots in 2025. For me, personally, it was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made,” Kraft said. “Unfortunately, the trajectory of our team’s performances throughout the season did not ascend as I had hoped.”
Kraft planned to discuss the decision at a news conference on Monday.
Mayo, a former Patriots linebacker and assistant under Belichick, began the season with strong backing from Kraft. However, along with a coaching staff that included offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and first-time defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington, Mayo struggled to make the most of a young roster, which included rookie quarterback Drake Maye.
The Patriots started the season with a win at Cincinnati but then lost their next six games. They won two of their next three but ended the season by losing six of their last seven games, failing to make the playoffs for the third straight year. Belichick, in his final season of 2023, had a 4-13 record, capping a 24-year tenure that included six Super Bowl titles.
Mayo played eight seasons with the Patriots and won a Super Bowl during the 2014 season. After retiring in 2015, he worked in corporate America for a few years before returning to football in 2019 as the Patriots’ linebackers coach.
He developed a strong reputation among players and became a rising star in the coaching world, turning down several head coaching interviews after the 2022 season to sign an extension with the Patriots.
A week after Belichick’s departure, the Patriots hired Mayo as the team’s first Black head coach. At 37, Mayo became the second-youngest head coach in the NFL, behind only Seattle’s Mike Macdonald.
From the beginning, Mayo tried to create a culture that was different from Belichick’s often rigid focus on football. This move was praised by players but did not result in wins for a team that struggled both offensively and defensively, finishing near the bottom of the league in both areas. The Patriots also went 3-6 in one-score games.
Kraft could consider Mike Vrabel, a former Patriots linebacker who was recently interviewed for the New York Jets’ head coaching job. Vrabel, who was a key player in the Patriots’ first three Super Bowl victories, coached the Tennessee Titans to three playoff appearances in six years before being fired in 2023.
After Sunday’s win, but before the firing was announced, players spoke positively about Mayo’s efforts this season.
“He’s stayed consistent,” cornerback Jonathan Jones said. “The effort from the guys today showed just how no matter what the situation is, how he can get guys to go out there and fight.”
Veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett pointed out that it was a challenge for everyone to come together under a new coaching staff.
“First year for head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, (general manager). People don’t understand all that,” Brissett said. “But good things take time. It’s not like Rome was built in a day. … The word that people don’t want to use is patience. You’ve got to have patience with this thing.”
Despite this, Kraft showed no patience with the coach he had handpicked.
Kraft first took notice of Mayo’s confidence after the Patriots drafted him 10th overall out of Tennessee in 2008.
“I remember him immediately coming up to me and saying, ‘Kraft and Mayo, they go together pretty well,’” Kraft said during Mayo’s introductory news conference last January. “Sixteen years later, here we are.”
When Mayo returned to the Patriots in 2019, Kraft noticed he had become an even more skilled leader who still connected well with players.
That year, Mayo accompanied Kraft on a trip to Israel, and the two grew closer. Kraft later said he knew Mayo was the right person to be the next head coach of the Patriots.
“I knew while observing him in Israel, he was the right person to be the next head coach of the New England Patriots,” Kraft said. “I had that same conviction when I hired Bill Belichick, a decision that many questioned at the time, and told me I was making a major error.”
Unfortunately, Kraft’s instincts did not pay off. At 83 years old, Kraft will now begin the search for a new coach who can turn the franchise’s fortunes around.
