Patriots fire Jerod Mayo after finishing 4-13 in lone season
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- In a surprising turn, Jerod Mayo is out after one year as head coach of the New England Patriots, the team announced Sunday.
The Patriots finished the 2024 season with a 4-13 record. Mayo's one-year tenure matches Rod Rust, who went 1-15 in 1990, for the shortest in franchise history.
"For me, personally, this was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made," owner Robert Kraft said in a statement. "I have known Jerod for 17 years. He earned my respect and admiration as a rookie in 2008 and throughout his career for his play on the field, his leadership in the locker room and the way he conducted himself in our community. When he joined our coaching staff, his leadership was even more evident, as I saw how the players responded to him. When other teams started requesting to interview him, I feared I would lose him and committed to making him our next head coach. Winning our season-opener on the road at Cincinnati only strengthened my convictions. Unfortunately, the trajectory of our team's performances throughout the season did not ascend as I had hoped."
"Since buying the team, I have always considered myself and my family as custodians of a public asset. We have tremendous fans who expect and deserve a better product than we have delivered in recent years. I apologize for that. I have given much thought and consideration as to what actions I can take to expedite our return to championship contention and determined this move was the best option at this time."
"I am grateful for Jerod's many contributions to the New England Patriots throughout his career and will always be rooting for his success. I appreciate all his hard work and hope the experiences gained will help him in the future, as I still believe he will be a successful head coach in this league. I wish Jerod and his family nothing but success in the future."
The Patriots won Mayo's last game as coach, a 23-16 victory over the Buffalo Bills that dropped New England from picking No. 1 in the 2025 draft to No. 4.
Robert Kraft and team president Jonathan Kraft will now begin a search for the Patriots' 16th head coach, with former New England linebacker and Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel among the candidates they are expected to interview.
Robert Kraft expected "growing pains" in Mayo's debut season, in part because Mayo inherited a depleted roster. The Patriots entered the year tied with the Carolina Panthers for the lowest projected win total -- 4.5 -- so the decision to move on from Mayo reflects how Kraft viewed the team's struggles as more than a result of lack of talent.
Firing a head coach after one season is rare but not unprecedented.
Over the past decade, Mayo joins Frank Reich (Panthers, 2023), Nathaniel Hackett (Denver Broncos, 2022), Lovie Smith (Houston Texans, 2022), David Culley (Texans, 2021), Urban Meyer (Jacksonville Jaguars, 2021), Freddie Kitchens (Cleveland Browns, 2019), Steve Wilks (Arizona Cardinals, 2018), Chip Kelly (San Francisco 49ers, 2016) and Jim Tomsula (49ers, 2015) as non-interim head coaches who didn't make it to their second season.
The 38-year-old Mayo had been handpicked by Robert Kraft as the successor to Bill Belichick, with Kraft citing Mayo's knack for connecting with a younger generation of players. Mayo played linebacker for the Patriots from 2008 to 2015, served as an executive in finance at a healthcare company upon his retirement and worked in media before joining Belichick's staff as a linebackers coach from 2019 to 2023.
In the years leading up to being named Patriots head coach on Jan. 17, 2024, he had interviewed for head coaching jobs with the Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles and Las Vegas Raiders. Kraft had been concerned he might lose Mayo, so in 2023, he inserted language into his contract that made him Belichick's successor. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell later called the succession clause "smart management."
One of the top disappointments of Mayo's one-year tenure was the defense, considering that was his expertise as a player and assistant.
The defense regressed in several areas, entering the season finale with just 12 takeaways and last in the NFL in quarterback contacts, according to ESPN Research.
He also walked back multiple comments over the year, acknowledging he made a "rookie mistake" when saying shortly after being hired that the Patriots would "burn some cash" in free agency. He later amended his remarks to say the Patriots would spend wisely. Mayo also made headlines by calling the Patriots "a soft football team across the board" following a sixth straight loss in October, which he clarified the next day to say the team was "playing soft."
Mayo, who was more talkative with the media than Belichick, acknowledged several times over the year that he would make mistakes as a first-year coach and planned to learn from them. He described his coaching style as rooted in "developing people" while noting "my calling is to be a teacher and help them see what they don't want to see but need to see."
The Patriots haven't won a playoff game since their 13-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3, 2019.
While Jerod Mayo was fired as Patriots head coach, he's not the only one to blame for disastrous season
FOXBORO -- Jerod Mayo is out as head coach of the New England Patriots after just one season. He was dismissed shortly after wrapping up a 4-13 season with a Week 18 win over the Buffalo Bills.
But he's definitely not the only one responsible for the disaster that was the 2024 New England Patriots. Owner Robert Kraft and VP of player personnel Eliot Wolf own plenty of that pie as well.
The decision to fire Mayo isn't all that surprising, as the Patriots were a giant mess in Mayo's one season. It's the swiftness of the firing that caught many by surprise, and raises more questions for Kraft.
In firing Mayo a little over an hour after the conclusion of Sunday's 23-16 win over the Bills -- which cost the Patriots the No. 1 pick in the draft -- it's clear that Mayo couldn't do anything to save his bacon on Sunday. So why let a lame duck coach take the sideline for a game that could ultimately hurt the franchise for years to come?
It's hard to get players to play to lose, and the Bills really out-tanked the Patriots on Sunday by sending out Mitch Trubisky and Mike White at quarterback. But Mayo was clearly coaching to win on Sunday.
It was a great moment for Mayo, who felt vindicated with the win. Good for him, we guess. But with that victory, the Patriots will now pick fourth in the upcoming draft.
Having the top pick would have opened a lot of other avenues for New England this offseason. The Patriots are set at quarterback with Drake Maye, and they could have traded that pick for a nice bounty to QB-needy teams. They could have potentially acquired another early-round pick this year future firsts. It was a way to adding more potentially elite talent to a roster that desperately needs elite talent.
Instead the Patriots will draft fourth, and chances are no one is going to come knocking down their door for that selection. They should still be able to add a top receiver for Maye or a left tackle to protect him, but the Patriots need a lot more this offseason.
Kraft will talk with reporters at Gillette Stadium on Monday afternoon (which you can watch on WBZ-TV and CBS News Boston) so maybe we'll get an answer on why Mayo was allowed to coach on Sunday.
Mayo made his share of mistakes, and they were plentiful. Those mistakes came on the sideline and in the media. We'll get to that in a minute.
But this disastrous season was not entirely his fault. He was put in a near impossible position of replacing Bill Belichick, and the Patriots gave him one of the NFL's worst rosters. Belichick won just four games with a similar team in 2023, and the Patriots wanted a first-year head coach to do better?
The initial plan was for Belichick to get the NFL wins record and then ride off into the sunset in the near future. Instead, he was let go after his four-win campaign, and Mayo was thrown into a position he was not ready for. He had no experience as a coordinator, let alone a head coach. But because this was the plan Kraft had envisioned years ago, he didn't have a problem bumping up the timeline. That was a mistake.
All that being said, there were plenty of mistakes made by the front office that set up Mayo for failure. That falls on de facto GM Eliot Wolf, who at the moment, still has his job in New England.
The Patriots started 12 different players along the offensive line in 2024, two off from the NFL record. Wolf didn't sign an actual left tackle in the offseason, instead trying to plug that massive hole with converted guards or right tackles. Chuks Okorafor was brought in to fill the left tackle void, and he was benched just a quarter into the season. He left the New England circus after Week 1, which is now seen as a genius move on his part. The inexperienced offensive line the rest of the way led to a whole lot of QB sacks and even more pre-snap penalties
New England's receiving corps was also among the worst in the NFL, as Wolf missed badly on second-round pick Ja'Lynn Polk. The brass viewed Polk as a plug-and-play player that would come in an catch a ton of passes as a rookie. He had just a dozen catches on the season. The other receiver drafted was Javon Baker in the fourth round, and he caught his first NFL pass on Sunday.
The Patriots traded out of the pick that turned into L.A. receiver Ladd McConkey, who finished his rookie season with 82 receptions for 1,149 yards and seven touchdowns.
Drake Maye and Christian Gonzalez were the only bright spots on the roster. Outside of Pro Bowler Brenden Schooler, the rest of the roster regressed.
So Mayo was not set up to succeed in New England, and he likely would have gotten another shot. But he is not blameless in this, and as the head coach, it's on him when the team looks -- and acts -- like a mess on and off the field.
As expected, Mayo had his issues on the sideline. There were problems with his clock management and he was afraid to get aggressive on offense. Some of that likely had to do with the personnel and wanting to protect Maye, but the Patriots punted the ball away in several situations when they had nothing to lose. Those were missed opportunities to let the young offense grow and gain experience in a game setting.
But Mayo's sporadic messaging was an even bigger factor in the team's dysfunction. There was rarely a clear message from Mayo, and he spent most of his Monday's walking back or correcting something he had said previously.
Mayo had a lot of fans early in his tenure when he said the Patriots were "ready to burn some cash" in the offseason. Then the organization didn't burn much cash -- outside of re-signing their own players -- and Mayo had to clarify what he meant.
He promised more than four wins, which was an outrageous proclamation ahead of the season. He made it clear that he believed Maye had outplayed Jacoby Brissett in the preseason, only to name Brissett the starter a few days later. And all of that was before the season even kicked off.
The Patriots won in Week 1, upsetting the Bengals in Cincinnati, but then proceeded to lose six straight. After the team's 32-16 loss to the lowly Jaguars in London, Mayo called his team "soft," only to walk it back and say he meant they "played soft" when he returned stateside.
The Patriots won two of their next three games, so perhaps that "soft" comment worked. But it was only temporary, as the team lost six straight after its Week 10 win in Chicago.
The Patriots had the latest bye week in the NFL, and there was hope they'd come out as a better team after Week 14. Instead, things just got worse for New England as the season spiraled down the drain.
The Pats were blown out by the Cardinals in Arizona, 30-17, in Week 15. When Mayo was questioned about not calling a QB sneak for Maye on a critical fourth-and-1 in the second half, he essentially threw Van Pelt under the bus by responding, "You said it, I didn't." Mayo walked that back the next day, saying it was his call as the head coach.
After playing the Bills close in Buffalo in Week 16, the Patriots were completely embarrassed by the L.A. Chargers at Gillette Stadium, 40-7. Players weren't ready for that punch in the mouth, and Mayo once again had mixed messaging before the game. He said on 98.5 The Sports Hub's pregame show that Antonio Gibson would start over the fumble-happy Rhamondre Stevenson, only for Stevenson to be out there for the start of the game a short time later.
His explanation? A simple "coach's decision" without any substance.
There were loud boos and "Fire Mayo" chants in the stands that afternoon in Foxboro, which prompted linebacker Jahlani Tavai to lash out at fans. Mayo benched Tavai for the first quarter on Sunday, but that was just the latest example of a player feeling free enough to say whatever they wanted.
Polk famously said that he had the best hands in the NFL early during his struggles. Christian Barmore lashed out at Providence police on social media over a registration issue that was his fault. Baker went on Instagram Live while he was getting a ticket from Mass. State Police.
It's no surprise that Tavai felt comfortable enough to go after the paying customers ahead of the final game of the season. Mayo barely had control early in the season, and had completely lost it by season's end. Players never quit on him and continued to play for Mayo, but he struggled to keep the team connected and together. As a former player, getting the squad to be a functioning, cohesive unit was supposed to be his strong suit.
The 2024 season was a disaster for the Mayo, Kraft, and the New England Patriots. They were given a chance to get the No. 1 pick and put the franchise in a much better spot, but they couldn't even pull that off. They somehow got out-tanked by a 13-3 Bills team.
Now Kraft is left to pick up the pieces after his hand-picked successor led to the most disastrous season's of his ownership. Let's hope he puts his next head coach in a much better position to succeed.
Why did Patriots fire Jerod Mayo as head coach after just 1 season?
After a single season as Patriots head coach, Jerod Mayo's time in New England is done.
The Patriots didn't bother waiting until Monday to dismiss him. They announced Mayo's firing Sunday afternoon with a statement from team owner Robert Kraft, just hours after a season-ending win over a Bills team that was resting key players ahead of the playoffs.
A former Patriots linebacker who spent his entire eight-season playing career with New England, Mayo was a member of Bill Belichick's coaching staff for five seasons before becoming Belichick's successor last January.
Expectations were low in 2024 on a talent-depleted roster built around a rookie quarterback.
So what went wrong for Mayo that prompted the Patriots to give up on one of their own, who was hand-selected by Kraft, after just one season?
Per a report from The Athletic's Jeff Howe, there was doubt about the hiring from the start among Patriots insiders. According to the report, members of the Belichick regime were skeptical from the beginning that Mayo was ready for the job when he was hired at 37 years old.
Said skeptics believed that Mayo "needed more experience game planning, involvement in play calling, handling bigger situational decisions," and that New England's 4-13 season played out "about how we thought," per the report.
Mayo's inexperience shone early in the season around the most important decision that he would make: Who would start at quarterback?
Drake Maye was the QB of the future when the Patriots drafted him last spring. There was debate in the preseason over whether it made sense to play Maye as a rookie on a roster lacking talent at skill positions and on the offensive line.
Before Maye took over in Week 6, Mayo initially decided that Maye should learn from the bench and named veteran Jacoby Brissett as New England's starter. The decision didn't raise eyebrows. Starting Maye on the bench instead of risking his health and development behind a shaky offensive line made sense. But how Mayo reached his decision certainly did.
Before announcing Brissett as starter, Mayo declared that Maye had outplayed Brissett on the field, an assessment that was backed up by preseason statistics.
"It’s true competition, and I would say at this current point, Drake has outplayed Jacoby," Mayo said on Aug. 26.
The proclamation suggested that Maye could end up as New England's starter. Two days later, Mayo named Brissett as the starter, setting Mayo up to walk back his previous comments.
The public explanation didn't make sense, even if the unspoken sentiment that Maye was better off on the bench did. It wasn't a fireable offense, of course but it amounted to a public gaffe that helped set the tone for Mayo's lone season on the job.
And it was a shock to the system in New England after two-plus decades of a Belichick regime playing its cards extremely close to the vest. Then came an early season statement from Mayo that drew direct criticism from Belichick himself.
The Patriots traveled to London to face the Jaguars in Week 6, Maye's first game as a starter. They opened a 10-0 lead only to give up 25 straight points en route to a 32-16 loss. After the game, Mayo criticized Patriots players as "soft."
Belichick took issue with those comments about a roster made up of many of the same players he had coached the previous season. He expressed his thoughts on the "Pat McAfee Show" the following Monday.
Calling his players soft in public also wasn't a fireable offense. But it was a sign of continued turbulence in New England. And as the season wore on, play on the field continued to suffer, and the losses piled up. The defeats were accompanied by game management decisions that repeatedly drew criticism in Patriots media.
New England entered Sunday's finale ranked 31st in the league in yards per game, ahead of only the likewise abysmal Bears. Its defense was ranked 21st in yards allowed and 23rd in points allowed per game. The Patriots finished the season with a minus-128 point differential, good for 28th in the league.
Outside of Maye's upside, there was little positive to take from a 4-13 campaign that produced a last-place finish in the AFC East. Near the end, public sentiment had turned against Mayo. He faced "fire Mayo" chants at Gillette Stadium during a 40-7 home loss to the Chargers in Week 17 that dropped the Patriots to 3-13.
A week later, the Patriots did just that.
Is it fair for the Patriots to have fired Mayo after his first year as a head coach? Mayo's roster was one of the worst in the league, and the expectations this season were not to win. Does it make more sense to give him another year to learn from his mistakes and develop?
The decision in New England was ultimately no. And it was made amid an urgency to get things right around Maye and the hope that he ultimately leads the franchise back into contention. The decision on Sunday gives the Patriots a jumpstart on the coaching carousel as they seek out Mayo's successor.
Will they look to another former Patriot in free-agent head coach Mike Vrabel? He's a coveted candidate who's expected to draw wide interest a year removed from his last season as Titans head coach. Will they look to an offensive-minded coach to amplify Maye's development?
Whomever they hire, the Patriots want to have their choice of candidates, and starting the process early gives them a leg up.
Fair or not, Mayo's time in New England is done. And the old idiom stands true. When following a legend, it's better to replace the guy who replaced the guy rather than to replace the guy.
Why the Patriots fired coach Jerod Mayo after one season
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- When the New England Patriots hired Jerod Mayo as head coach on Jan. 17, 2024, owner Robert Kraft expressed his optimism about exciting, new chapters in the franchise's championship-filled history.
Turns out there was only one chapter, as Mayo's tenure lasted one season, with the team announcing it is moving on shortly after Sunday's 23-16 win over the Buffalo Bills. The Patriots finished 4-13 under Mayo.
Kraft handpicked Mayo as Bill Belichick's successor after 24 seasons, citing his knack for connecting with a younger generation of players and bringing people together. Fearing he would lose Mayo to another team after he interviewed with the Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles, Kraft wrote succession language in Mayo's contract while Mayo was serving as a linebackers coach under Belichick.
But Kraft is now aborting those plans to move in a new direction. Here's a look at why the decision was made and what's in store for the Patriots this offseason. -- Mike Reiss
Kraft had acknowledged there would be "growing pains" in Mayo's first year, in part because he inherited one of the least talented rosters in the NFL, but the tolerance to live with those pains seemed to lessen as things unraveled over the final month of the season.
The Patriots had the NFL's latest bye (Week 14) and the hope was to build momentum heading into 2025. Instead, the team played with lower-level urgency in a 30-17 road loss to the Arizona Cardinals coming out of the bye, and then no-showed two weeks later in a 40-7 home loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in which fans at the barely half-filled stadium chanted "Fire Mayo."
Mayo's erratic messaging with the media and linebacker Jahlani Tavai telling fans to "know their place" and not boo Mayo were among off-field issues for ownership to assess. The Patriots did show better fight against the Bills in a 24-21 road loss in Week 16, and also beat them on Sunday, but fan dissent had grown to the highest levels seen in Kraft's 31-year tenure. If the Patriots had lost Sunday vs. the Bills, they would have secured the No. 1 pick. Instead, they will pick No. 4.
"We have tremendous fans who expect and deserve a better product than we have delivered in recent years. I apologize for that. I have given much thought and consideration as to what actions I can take to expedite our return to championship contention and determined this move was the best option at this time," Kraft said in a statement on the firing. -- Reiss
A significant role -- specifically on the offensive line and at wide receiver. The Patriots started seven different offensive line configurations in the first seven weeks of the season and 10 different combinations by season's end because of personnel missteps, injuries and poor performance.
Meanwhile, after executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf stressed the need to "weaponize" the offense in the offseason to support rookie quarterback Drake Maye, opponents had little fear of a receiving corps with Kayshon Boutte, Kendrick Bourne and DeMario Douglas atop the depth chart.
Part of that is tied to coaching and a lack of development, as the Patriots had first-year position coaches along the offensive line and receiver and didn't see their rookies progress to become the frontline contributors they hoped they would be. -- Reiss
Whenever a head coach is fired, that means assistants wind up leaving as well. But those under contract could also be interviewed by whoever is hired next and possibly remain; that will be sorted out as the process evolves.
The future of Wolf and the personnel staff -- and how that fits with a new coach -- is arguably the biggest storyline. The Patriots have nine total draft picks (four within the first three rounds) and $130 million in salary cap space, so that will be a critical decision Kraft and the new coach must make. -- Reiss
Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, whose future with the franchise was uncertain even if Mayo stayed, was the coach who worked most closely with Maye. Van Pelt was credited by Mayo for aiding Maye's development more than anyone else in the organization.
So, this opens the possibility that Maye will be learning a new system in his second NFL season and also working with new coaches other than quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney, assistant QBs coach Evan Rothstein and senior assistant Ben McAdoo. -- Reiss
The biggest issue for prospective candidates will be the lack of top-end roster talent with which to work. But the Patriots are set up to change that, with $130-plus million in cap space, a franchise quarterback to attract pass-catching free agents and plenty of draft capital. And New England can offer the mystique and tradition associated with six Super Bowls during the Belichick-Tom Brady era.
While I expect New England to conduct a wide-ranging search, you've got to think former Tennessee Titans coach and Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel will at least be involved. It makes too much sense, given his ties there. And that has been the expectation among some inside the league in recent days, that, should the job open, he will be interested. But Vrabel will have other options, too. Another contender might be Vikings defensive coordinator and former Patriots assistant Brian Flores, who has reset his career in Minnesota with two successful years.
This is also a chance for New England to talk with offensive-minded candidates to maximize Maye's development. Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen, considered one of the rising candidates, has several New England ties -- he grew up in Rhode Island, played at UMass and coached at Brown, UMass and Maine. -- Jeremy Fowler
The Patriots' depth chart is in desperate need of repair and top-tier talent. With the No. 4 pick, New England has to focus on adding a blue-chip prospect in a draft class that is not rich in them.
The smart move is to identify the player who can best help Maye. That decision likely comes down to a wide receiver like Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan or Texas left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. Now that the Patriots have been knocked out of the No. 1 pick, addressing offensive deficiencies in Round 1 is the play. Several teams have been in a similar position -- most recently the Cincinnati Bengals when deciding between Penei Sewell and Ja'Marr Chase in the 2021 draft -- and there's a leaguewide debate on how to best build a team. That said, good wide receivers can be found in Round 2. Premier left tackles are much harder to find. Banks should be the pick. -- Matt Miller
Patriots fire head coach Jerod Mayo after one season in New England
The New England Patriots fired head coach Jerod Mayo on Sunday, the team announced. The Patriots finished 3-14 in his lone season in charge.
Mayo was the Patriots’ inside linebackers coach from 2019 to 2023. He was promoted to the head job last January, succeeding six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick.
“For me, personally, this was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made,” New England owner Robert Kraft said in a statement.
He later added: “Unfortunately, the trajectory of our team’s performances throughout the season did not ascend as I had hoped.”
The Patriots started the season with an upset win over the Cincinnati Bengals but then lost 13 of their next 15 games. New England won its season finale against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, but the win was costly, dropping the Patriots from the first pick in the upcoming NFL draft to fourth.
Mayo made waves earlier in the season when, after the team’s sixth straight loss, he labeled his roster as “soft.”
“We’re a soft football team across the board,” Mayo said in October. “We talk about what makes a tough football team, and that’s being able to run the ball, being able to stop the run, and that’s being able to cover kicks. We did none of those.”
Mayo was also criticized for waiting until Week 6 to start rookie quarterback Drake Maye. Jacoby Brissett, who started the first five weeks of the season, threw only two touchdown passes in eight total games.
New England struggled on both sides of the ball under Mayo. The Patriots averaged the third-fewest yards per game on offense entering Week 18 and surrendered the ninth-most defensively.
"We have tremendous fans who expect and deserve a better product than we have delivered in recent years. I apologize for that,” Kraft said in his statement. "I have given much thought and consideration as to what actions I can take to expedite our return to championship contention and determined this move was the best option at this time.”
Patriots fire Jerod Mayo, Bill Belichick's replacement, after just 1 season
Whoever took over for Bill Belichick was going to have a nearly impossible task.
Beyond Belichick's six Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots, his poor personnel moves in his final few Patriots seasons left the franchise with a talent-deficient roster. The next head coach was going to likely lose a lot of games on a franchise that got used to winning.
Jerod Mayo was in a no-win situation, and it wasn't a surprise when he came up short with a 4-13 record, fourth-worst in the NFL. It was a surprise that his tenure lasted just one season.
Mayo was fired Sunday after one season coaching the Patriots.
Belichick lasted 24 seasons in New England and Mayo, a former Patriots linebacker and then assistant coach under Belichick, didn't make it to two. His final game as New England head coach was beating the Buffalo Bills in Week 18 ... to lose out on the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
The Patriots started Mayo's first season well, with a shocking win at the Cincinnati Bengals. Early in the season an outmanned team was competitive. There weren't many wins but that wasn't a shock. The Patriots turned to rookie quarterback Drake Maye, the third pick of the draft, and he played pretty well given the circumstances.
But as the losses piled up, there was more criticism of Mayo's coaching and speculation that he might get fired at the end of his first season. There was a report late in the season that Mayo was safe barring a collapse, but a 40-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 17 that dropped New England to 3-13 didn't help.
The Patriots will still have a depleted roster for the next head coach, but at least Maye offers some hope at a quick turnaround. Mayo wasn't given the opportunity to see if he could be the one to turn things around.
Robert Kraft will now have to hire his fourth head coach of his 31-year tenure as Patriots team owner. Pete Carroll was good, not great. Belichick was perhaps the biggest home run in NFL history. Mayo, now, is done after one season.
Who might he target? Former Patriots linebacker and established NFL head coach Mike Vrabel is a name to watch, per Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson.
NFL: New England Patriots sack head coach Jerod Mayo after one season
The New England Patriots have sacked head coach Jerod Mayo after just one season in charge.
Mayo was informed of his dismissal shortly after the team's final game of the regular season, in which they beat a weakened Buffalo Bills to finish with a 4-13 record.
The 38-year-old won one Super Bowl as a linebacker with the Patriots and later served as the team's inside linebackers coach from 2019 until January 2024, when his promotion came.
"This was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made," said team owner Robert Kraft in a statement announcing Mayo's exit. "I have known Jerod for 17 years."
Mayo succeeded legendary coach Bill Belichick, who won a record six Super Bowls before parting ways with the Patriots after an 8-9 record last season.
The Pats were on course to finish with this season's worst record, and therefore have the first pick in this year's NFL draft, but Sunday's win means they will now have the fourth pick instead.
Kraft explained Mayo's short-lived tenure by saying: "When other teams started requesting to interview him, I feared I would lose him and committed to making him our next head coach.
"Winning our season-opener on the road at Cincinnati only strengthened my convictions.
"Unfortunately, the trajectory of our team's performances throughout the season did not ascend as I had hoped."
After beating the Bengals, the Patriots lost their next six and after a dismal defeat by the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley in October, Mayo said: "We're a soft football team across the board."
The introduction of rookie quarterback Drake Maye offered some hope, but they had another six-game losing streak before Sunday's 23-16 win over Buffalo.
Jerod Mayo fired by New England Patriots after only one season as coach
After enjoying one of the lengthiest periods of coaching stability under Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots are going the one-and-done route.
The Patriots on Sunday fired coach Jerod Mayo after just one season, the team announced, marking a stunning about-face from owner Robert Kraft on the figure he appointed to be Belichick's successor.
Kraft said the decision to fire Mayo was "one of the hardest decisions I have ever made."
"Unfortunately, the trajectory of our team's performance throughout the season did not ascend as I had hoped," Kraft said in a statement.
New England stumbled to a 4-13 finish in Mayo's debut as a head coach, though the team won its season finale against the Buffalo Bills. But after Belichick, who won six Super Bowls in 24 years leading the franchise, was pushed out after a 4-13 campaign, many expected Mayo would receive more time to engineer a turnaround.
All things Patriots: Latest New England Patriots news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
Instead, New England is once again looking for another fresh start.
Mayo's run began auspiciously with a surprising 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the season opener. But the Patriots would lose their next six games and finish the year on a seven-game skid. During the 40-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 17, "fire Mayo" chants broke out at Gillette Stadium.
Mayo also came under fire for calling New England "a soft football team across the board" following a 32-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London in Week 7. The coach attempted to walk back his remark, but Belichick and others criticized him for his characterization of his players and their performance.
Despite the unrest around the mounting losses, Mayo said in the week prior to the regular-season finale against the Bills that he didn't have cause for concern regarding his standing.
“I’m always in constant communication with ownership,” Mayo said in a news conference. “I feel like we’re still on the same page.”
The Patriots are projected to have more than $130 million in salary cap space - more than any other team - for 2025 as well as the No. 4 overall pick in this year's NFL draft.
This story has been updated with new information.
Patriots fire Jerod Mayo after first season in New England post-Bill Belichick
The New England Patriots enjoyed decades of stability at the head coaching position, but for the third time in three seasons, they will have a new man lurking on the sidelines. That's because the team announced Sunday it has decided to part ways with Jerod Mayo after just one season on the job after succeeding Bill Belichick in Foxborough.
This decision by Robert Kraft and the Patriots brass comes after a 4-13 season where the club finished last in the AFC East for the second year in a row. It also comes as the club missed out on the No. 1 overall pick by defeating the Buffalo Bills in the regular-season finale, and will now own the No. 4 overall selections at this year's draft.
"After the game today, I informed Jerod Mayo that he will not be returning as the head coach of the New England Patriots in 2025," Robert Kraft said in a statement. "For me, personally, this was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. I have known Jerod for 17 years. He earned my respect and admiration as a rookie in 2008 and throughout his career for his play on the field, his leadership in the locker room and the way he conducted himself in our community. When he joined our coaching staff, his leadership was even more evident, as I saw how the players responded to him. When other teams started requesting to interview him, I feared I would lose him and committed to making him our next head coach. Winning our season-opener on the road at Cincinnati only strengthened my convictions. Unfortunately, the trajectory of our team's performances throughout the season did not ascend as I had hoped.
"Since buying the team, I have always considered myself and my family as custodians of a public asset. We have tremendous fans who expect and deserve a better product than we have delivered in recent years. I apologize for that. I have given much thought and consideration as to what actions I can take to expedite our return to championship contention and determined this move was the best option at this time.
"I am grateful for Jerod's many contributions to the New England Patriots throughout his career and will always be rooting for his success. I appreciate all his hard work and hope the experiences gained will help him in the future, as I still believe he will be a successful head coach in this league. I wish Jerod and his family nothing but success in the future."
Mayo, who played his entire career as a linebacker for the Patriots, had long been eyed as the successor to Belichick by Kraft. Mayo reportedly even had language in his contract when he was an assistant coach that detailed the team's succession plan to make him the next head coach post-Belichick, which was communicated to the league office at the time. Kraft also told Prime Video back in September that he "picked him five years ago to be our next head coach."
Given those long-laid plans to bring Mayo to this position, moving on from him after one season is quite jarring. However, as the season played out -- particularly down the stretch -- opened the door for ownership to make this move.
Initially, there was promise that the Patriots had pulled the correct lever by promoting Mayo, particularly after the team upset the Cincinnati Bengals on the road in the regular-season opener. However, the team came crashing back down to reality after that, dropping six straight.
That final game in that losing streak came in London against the Jaguars, where Mayo called out his team for being "soft," which sent shockwaves around the organization at the time. The Patriots momentarily responded to Mayo's comments by defeating the Jets the following week but have since reverted to poor, undisciplined play.
Throughout a large chunk of the season, Mayo's job appeared to be secure despite the team's shortcomings. However, the final month of the year can be looked at as the nail in his coffin. After the Week 14 bye, New England was blown out by the Cardinals on the road, blew a 14-point lead to the Bills, and then was shellacked by the Chargers at home in Week 17. In that time, the team's execution decayed, putting Mayo's job security squarely in doubt.
Beyond the sheer record and play on the field, Mayo also dealt with some media gaffs that featured the head coach, oftentimes backtracking prior comments or simply doing the opposite of what he said he was going to do. An example of that latter point came in Week 17 when he told the radio broadcast pregame that running back Antonio Gibson would start over Rhamondre Stevenson, but Stevenson would end up getting the starting nod.
Given that the franchise successfully found its quarterback of the future in Drake Maye and is now armed with a top five pick and the most cap space available in the league this offseason, it appears the Krafts view this inflection point in the club's history to be too delicate to leave in the hands of a still-developing coach in Mayo. And that has now led the club on another head coaching search.
Will Patriots fire Jerod Mayo? Latest rumors about New England coach's status
The New England Patriots ended one of the NFL's most remarkable runs of coaching stability when they fired Bill Belichick after 24 years as the team's head coach following the 2023 season.
At the time, Patriots owner Robert Kraft believed he had the ideal replacement for Belichick: Jerod Mayo. The former New England linebacker spent five years on the Patriots' coaching staff as their inside linebackers coach and was instrumental in coordinating the team's defense under Belichick.
As such, Mayo was expected to provide a unique combination of continuity and a fresh perspective as the Patriots made the difficult decision to move on from a legendary coach.
However, Mayo's first year in New England hasn't gone smoothly. The Patriots posted a 3-13 record through the first 17 weeks of the NFL season and entered Week 18 on pace to own the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
As a result, Mayo's job security has come into question. Could the Patriots end up making him a one-and-done coach in the post-Belichick era? Here's what to know about Mayo's status as the NFL's Black Monday approaches.
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It isn't clear whether the Patriots will fire Mayo, but NFL insiders painted his status as murky entering Week 18.
For most of the 2024 NFL season, Mayo was considered to be safe, as the consensus was that Kraft and Co. would at least give Mayo two years to prove himself as Belichick's successor.
But on ESPN's NFL Countdown, Adam Schefter stated that he believed the Patriots were "leaning out" on Mayo after the team endured a difficult month-long stretch to close the season.
"All along, the Kraft family has wanted to stand by him and give him support," Schefter said of Mayo. "He was the hand-chosen successor to Bill Belichick. But over the last 30 days or so, the team has struggled; they've lost at home; fans have been angered, they've been apathetic; and it feels like within the organization there's been a shift. There's nervous people inside the building right now."
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Schefter isn't the only one to note changing dynamics in the Patriots' building. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer reports that there is "less confidence" that the Kraft family will "stay the course" with Mayo and general manager Eliot Wolf just a year after hiring them.
"The Krafts are sympathetic to Mayo’s situation," Breer wrote. "He was elevated a year or two before they intended to have him succeed Bill Belichick. The roster he inherited was a mess—one that Belichick himself could only squeeze four wins from in 2023. Mayo’s predecessor’s presence hung over the Patriots’ operation, with Belichick’s media commentary and his old relationships in the building still lingering.
"And while the team has played hard for the most part for Mayo, questions have emerged about his ability to tactically manage the staff, and build a program – because the hope was that, by now, even if the roster prevented wins from coming, the vision would be clear."
Breer added that there will likely be staffing changes in 2025 regardless of whether they involve Mayo and Wolf.
So, either way, the Patriots appear to be heading toward another offseason of change.
Jerod Mayo fired as head coach of the New England Patriots
FOXBORO -- The New England Patriots did not wait around to move on from head coach Jerod Mayo. The Patriots fired Mayo shortly after the team's Week 18 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, which cost them the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Mayo is one-and-done after a 4-13 season, his first-ever as an NFL head coach.
Robert Kraft hand-picked Mayo as the successor to Bill Belichick five years ago, as the former Patriots player and assistant coach had a clause in his contract to take over when the Hall of Fame head coach left New England. Kraft and team ownership didn't expect to happen for a few other seasons, but things changed after Belichick went 4-13 in 2023.
Mayo, however, did not seem fit for the role throughout the 2024 season. The team never showed any signs of progress and regressed throughout his only season on the sideline.
Mayo wasn't put in the best position to succeed in his rookie season, with a roster lacking talent and a coaching staff that lacked experience. Not only was Mayo in his first year in his role, but so was defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt was also calling plays for the first time ever.
But Mayo didn't do much to save his backside. After starting the season as a pretty tough team that stunned the Bengals in Cincinnati, the Patriots regressed the rest of the way. The offense was never able to really put things together, and the defense was one of the most disappointing units in the NFL. Mayo struggled on the field and at the podium, from calling the team soft after a loss in London to skirting accountability late in the year.
Outside of quarterback Drake Maye, the Patriots rarely showed any signs of improvement during the 2024 season. They didn't seem to have any direction under Mayo, and Kraft decided to move on quickly and admit his mistake.
Now it's important for Kraft and ownership to embark on a real head-coaching search this offseason.
Kraft released the following statement announcing Mayo's firing, calling it "one of the hardest decisions" he's ever had to make:
"After the game today, I informed Jerod Mayo that he will not be returning as the head coach of the New England Patriots in 2025. For me, personally, this was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. I have known Jerod for 17 years. He earned my respect and admiration as a rookie in 2008 and throughout his career for his play on the field, his leadership in the locker room and the way he conducted himself in our community. When he joined our coaching staff, his leadership was even more evident, as I saw how the players responded to him. When other teams started requesting to interview him, I feared I would lose him and committed to making him our next head coach. Winning our season-opener on the road at Cincinnati only strengthened my convictions. Unfortunately, the trajectory of our team's performances throughout the season did not ascend as I had hoped."
"Since buying the team, I have always considered myself and my family as custodians of a public asset. We have tremendous fans who expect and deserve a better product than we have delivered in recent years. I apologize for that. I have given much thought and consideration as to what actions I can take to expedite our return to championship contention and determined this move was the best option at this time."
"I am grateful for Jerod's many contributions to the New England Patriots throughout his career and will always be rooting for his success. I appreciate all his hard work and hope the experiences gained will help him in the future, as I still believe he will be a successful head coach in this league. I wish Jerod and his family nothing but success in the future."
In addition to Mayo, the Patriots are also reportedly moving on from offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, according to Ben Volin of The Boston Globe. Chances are Mayo's entire staff will be blown out in New England.
The front office doesn't seem to be changing though, as executive VP of player personnel Eliot Wolf is expected to return, according to Chad Graf of The Athletic.
Mayo is now just one of two coaches to receive a single season with the Patriots. He joins Rod Rust, who was fired after a 1-15 season in 1990, as the only one-and-done head coaches in Patriots franchise history.
Mayo is the 13th head coach to be canned after just once season since 2011, and the first since Frank Reich was relieved of his coaching duties in Carolina in Week 12 after a 1-10 start.
One of the hottest names available is former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls with the Patriots as a player. He recently interviewed for the New York Jets head coaching vacancy.
Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is also going to be a hot head-coaching candidate this offseason.
Patriots fire Jerod Mayo: Rob Gronkowski blasts New England for cutting ties with head coach after one season
The New England Patriots didn't even wait until "Black Monday" to break out the pink slips, as Robert Kraft decided to announce head coach Jerod Mayo's firing shortly after the Patriots won their regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills, 23-16.
This firing was surprising for a couple of reasons. While New England did finish with a pitiful 4-13 record, this was Mayo's first season as head coach. He was even reportedly chosen by Kraft to be Bill Belichick's successor ahead of time, and had been on staff since 2019 after playing for the Patriots from 2008-15. However, after just 17 games, Kraft had seen enough to hand the former team captain his walking papers.
Patriots legend Rob Gronkowski, who spent six years as Mayo's teammate and now works for Fox, addressed New England's shocking decision on live television, and he clearly disagrees with the move.
"I was shocked by that, and to happen that soon was a shocker to a lot of people, especially here at the desk, we were all surprised by that," Gronk said. "I think it was unfair to coach Jerod Mayo. I mean, he never had the chance to develop as a head coach, he was just a rookie himself in that department. And if you judge a coach by their first year, that's really ... not appropriate..."
Gronk then turned to Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson and mentioned how he went 1-15 in his first season as the lead man with the Dallas Cowboys, and then later won two Super Bowls.
For Kraft to make this decision before the final NFL Sunday of the year had even come to a close shows that he had been considering a move for some time. It also indicates that he has a plan for how to acquire his next head coach. Maybe it's another former Patriots player, who also happened to play linebacker. Only time will tell.
New England Patriots Name Jerod Mayo as Head Coach Bill Belichick’s Successor: ‘He Deserves It’
It didn’t take long for the New England Patriots to find Bill Belichick’s successor. Less than a day after “mutually” parting ways with its legendary head coach, ESPN and the Associated Press report the Patriots and owner Robert Kraft will soon announce they are promoting assistant coach Jerod Mayo to replace him.
Mayo, 37, will become the youngest coach in NFL history and the first Black head coach in New England’s 65-year history. “He deserves it,” one defensive player on the Patriots told ESPN upon hearing the news.
Mayo is a highly respected former player and coach within the Patriots franchise.
He was a star linebacker on the team from 2008 until 2015, when he retired from playing.
The University of Tennessee graduate was drafted by the Patriots in the first round in 2008 and swiftly won the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year award in his first season. Mayo, who won a Super Bowl alongside Belichick and Tom Brady in 2014, was named as the team’s defensive captain in 2010.
Mayo received two Pro Bowl selections throughout his career and was ultimately honored by New England when he was named to the Patriots’ 2010s All-Decade team as one of the franchise’s best players throughout the decade – a decade that also featured the likes of Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Julian Edelman.
Teammates even jokingly referred to Mayo as “Bill Jr.” throughout his career due to his penchant for studying film and putting in time off the field to get better while on it, according to ESPN.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Mayo’s leadership within the Patriots locker room soon continued after retiring as a player, joining Belichick and the Patriots as a linebackers coach in 2019 after a brief career in finance following his retirement.
Mayo had called plays for the Patriots’ defense over the last two seasons, according to the AP.
Off the field, Mayo comes from an athletic family with two brothers who played college football. His younger brother Deron Mayo is also a strength and conditioning coach for the Patriots.
Mayo and his wife Chantel Mayo have four kids together: three daughters and a son.
The Patriots’ next head coach was long expected to take over for Belichick, who he saw as a mentor throughout his career.
"I feel like I'm prepared. I feel like I'm ready," Mayo told ESPN earlier this month when asked about taking over as the team’s next coach. "I feel like I can talk to men, women, old, young, white, Black -- it doesn't matter. And hopefully develop those people into upstanding citizens and help them evolve. That's how I think about it. I feel like my calling is to develop."
Patriots coach Jerod Mayo tabbed as favorite to succeed Bill Belichick
The unenviable task of succeeding Bill Belichick may fall on a Belichick disciple.
Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo “projects to be a, if not the, leading candidate” to become the next Patriots head coach after Belichick and the organization mutually parted ways Thursday, according to ESPN.
Former Titans coach Mike Vrabel, who, like Mayo, also played under Belichick, was linked to the Patriots’ job before it opened and prior to his exit from Tennessee.
Following Belichick will be a tough job for whoever is hired, but the fan base may have more leeway with someone who has Patriots ties.
Mayo has served on the Patriots coaching staff since the 2019 season and is well-regarded within the organization.
The 37-year-old former linebacker spent his entire NFL career with the Patriots from 2008-15, winning one championship.
He signed a contract extension this offseason, and team owner Robert Kraft labeled Mayo as a possible “heir apparent” before the season.
“Well, he’s definitely a strong candidate to be the heir apparent, but we have some other good people in our system,” Kraft told NFL Network in March.
Mayo said in December he would like to be a head coach someday.
“Hopefully as you guys all know, one day I want to be a head coach,” Mayo said, according to CBS News Boston. “Where that is, I don’t know. But at the same time, I would say I have a lot of love for New England. I have a lot of love for the fans, the people around the building. And you know, my family, they love it here as well. So that would be great if I could stay here and continue to progress throughout my career, but we’ll see.”
Vrabel, 48, would come with a stronger track record than Mayo due to his experience, having led the Titans to the playoffs three times in his six seasons in Nashville, including an AFC Championship Game appearance during the 2019 season — in which they beat the Patriots along the way.
The Patriots also inducted Vrabel into their Hall of Fame earlier this year.
NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran said before Belichick’s departure that he expects Mayo, not Vrabel, to be the candidate to beat.
“I also think the Krafts are very methodical,” Curran said earlier this week. “The fact that Mike Vrabel has kind of cannon-balled into the coaching pool here, I don’t know if that would necessarily cause them to alter the course of what they are planning to do.
“I believe that they will still stay on the course with Jerod Mayo as the next head coach.”
