FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — By last July, when Jerod Mayo arrived on the practice field behind Gillette Stadium for his first training camp as coach of the New England Patriots, many forecasters I saw the team on the cusp of a big game. – Time reconstruction. It’s not all that surprising that the Patriots finished the season with a dismal 4-13 record.
So why did Mayo step down as coach after just one season? We can be selective about this or that coaching decision or non-decision, but it wasn’t just what happened on the field that suggested unpreparedness and instability for Mayo. That’s what happened in the records too. Almost from the beginning, Mayo’s various media appearances – from press conferences to weekly morning drive-in interviews on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” – have ranged from the contradictory and uncomfortable to the unfortunate examples of something that reeks of old-fashioned money-passing.
deeper
The Patriots are expected to fire Jarod Mayo after one season and pursue Mike Vrabel.
None of Mayo’s comments led Patriots fans to call for a coaching change. After all, he is a former Patriots linebacker who was teammates with Tom Brady, Wes Welker and Randy Moss during his eight seasons in Foxboro. Vince Wilfork, Teddy Bruski, Rob Ninkovich, Devin McCourty. He also played alongside Mike Vrabel, who could soon be attracting interest as his successor at Mayo.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Pats fans were rooting for Mayo. But as the verbal gaffes continued, it became more apparent that Mayo lacked the proper training to become 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
“For me, I’m not trying to be Bill,” Mayo said when he was introduced as the successor to the legendary Bill Belichick. “The more I think about the lessons I’ve learned.” I got it from Bill. “It was hard work.” He raised eyebrows by referring to Patriots owner Robert Kraft as “Young Thundercat” and “Thunder” several times. Mayo later explained that he came up with the nickname because he felt Kraft, who turned 83 in June, had a “young soul.”
No harm, no foul. But later, as the losses piled up and Mayo’s public statements came under greater scrutiny, the “Young Thundercat” and “Thunder” were reexamined by critics who believed Mayo only took the coaching position because he had become especially friendly with Kraft. How many years. Kraft himself said he was inspired to view Mayo as a future NFL head coach during their time together on a 2019 trip to Israel.
But it was after the introductory press conference and after Mayo moved into the newly renovated coach’s office at Gillette Stadium that the media blunders began to pile up.
Sampling:
‘I’m ready to burn some cash’
In a Jan. 22 appearance on WEEI, a little more than a week after being named coach, Mayo said the Patriots would not limit their roster construction to the NFL Draft. “We are 1000 percent recruiting talent,” he said. “Make sure you have plenty of space and cash. I’m ready to burn some cash.”
The Patriots had more than $60 million in cap space, but the new coach soon walked back that opinion. Mayo told MassLive’s Karen Guregian: “There was a bit of a mistake when I said, ‘Please burn some cash,’ but I was really happy to see those numbers. “But if you think about the numbers… you don’t have to spend all that money in one year.”
A week into free agency, and with most of the top names off the board, “the Patriots roster doesn’t look or feel much different from the roster that finished 4-13 last season.” athleticWritten by Chad Graff. They brought in Journeyman quarterback Jacoby Brissett on a one-year deal worth about $8 million.
Mixed messages from quarterback
From the moment the Patriots selected quarterback Drake Maye with the third pick in the draft, Mayo said there would be “competition” for the spot between a rookie (Maye) and a veteran (Brissett). There’s nothing unusual. Because that’s the default quote from coaches after their shiny new draft pick got an introductory hug from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and was introduced to the media.
But things got complicated when Mayo repeatedly cited Maye’s outperformance of Brissett in the preseason. For example, a new coach told WEEI, “This was or is a real competition. It wasn’t crunchy or anything like that. It’s a real competition. And at this point, I would say Drake has surpassed Jacoby.”
Go deeper
Mike Vrabel, Brian Flores and the top candidates to become the Patriots’ next head coach.
Mayo media availability on August 28 lasted from a minute to a few seconds.
“We have decided that Jacoby Brissett will be our starting quarterback this season,” Mayo said.
The competition ended up being fluff.
Jerod Mayo is the latest coach to last just one season before being fired. https://t.co/LIr8PTbGY7 pic.twitter.com/VdDhmC0sa4
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) January 5, 2025
‘We are a soft football team overall’
Mayo spoke to the media after the Patriots lost 32-16 to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 20 in London. New England lost six straight after defeating Cincinnati 16-10 in the season opener.
Not only did Mayo say “we’re a soft football team overall,” but he also took the time to define what makes a team “tough.”
“What makes a strong soccer team?” Mayo asked. “We can run the ball, we can stop the run, we can cover the kick, and we didn’t do any of those things today.”
This was followed by what is now called Walkback Monday.
“We’re playing soft,” Mayo said on the weekly WEEI hit. “Look, let me go and make it right. was play soft. Because back in training camp, there was definitely some toughness here and there. We still have the same players. We just have to play that way.”
It worked for Belichick.
There was a lot of talk 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. While the Colts moved the ball toward the end zone, Mayo didn’t run out of timeouts to preserve the team’s final drive when needed.
Trailing 24-17, the Colts rallied for a 3-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Richardson to Alec Pierce, followed by Richardson’s conversion attempt to give Indy a 25-24 lead. The game ended with Joey Slye’s missed 68-yard field goal attempt with just 12 seconds left.
“Of course I thought about it,” Mayo said later when asked if he considered using a timeout. “We won the Super Bowl here in a different way. “I thought it was best for our team to keep the timeout.”
Mayo was referring to the Patriots’ 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, when Belichick stopped the clock on Seattle’s final drive. It worked for the Patriots, thanks to Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s head-scratching pass to Ricardo Lockette on second-and-goal from the New England 1 that Malcolm Butler miraculously intercepted to secure the win for New England.
The next morning on WEEI…
“You shouldn’t have said that.” Mayo said. “When I said that, I felt frustrated and had to sigh first. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
Does anyone know the license number of that bus?
The Patriots’ 30-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on December 15 was downplayed as the team failed to get a crucial first down on third-and-1, fourth-and-1 from the Arizona 4-yard line. The Pats went on to score by Antonio Gibson and Rhamondre Stevenson, but neither went anywhere, leading to obvious post-game questions for Mayo: How about sneaking a look at Maye, the big, mobile quarterback?
Mayo responded, “You said it, I didn’t,” which was widely seen as a criticism of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Mayo said: “It’s always my decision. look. The quarterback clearly has good legs and runs the ball well. We decided not to do it there.”
The next morning, on Walkback Monday, Mayo fielded the comments in a conference call with the media.
“I know there was a lot of chatter last night about the ‘you said so’ question,” Mayo said. “That didn’t mean anything. It was more of a defensive reaction, and ultimately I tried to clarify it with follow-up questions. Because ultimately, all decisions are mine. So I wanted to get that out.”
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Mayo then said, switching to his weekly WEEI hit. As I tell the players, I’m still learning how these things work.”
bench that wasn’t
On December 28, less than an hour before the Patriots hosted the Los Angeles Chargers, Mayo appeared on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s pregame show and told Scott Zolak about Stevenson’s recent clumsiness: “Gibby will start for us today. “, referring to Gibson.
The game started and on New England’s first possession, Stevenson threw the ball for a 5-yard gain.
Why the sudden change of heart?
“It was a coach’s decision,” Mayo said after the Patriots lost 40-7 to the Chargers.
LIVE: Patriots postgame press conference: https://t.co/kY9REgnEZn
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 5, 2025
The Patriots closed their season Sunday with a 23-16 win over the playoff-bound Buffalo Bills in the most sparsely attended game in Gillette Stadium’s 23-year history.
Mayo were asked 15 questions by the media after the game.
Final question: How would you best summarize this year? And did you learn that your team was a little further apart than you expected?
“I’m not going to talk about it,” Mayo said. “Like I said, we’ll have a lot of time tomorrow to talk about those things, but tonight is about these guys winning football games.”
That’s something Mayo doesn’t need to take a step back from.
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(Photo: Billie Weiss / Getty Images)
