Why Did Patriots Fire Head Coach Jerod Mayo? ‘I Just Don’t Think He Was Ready’

The New England Patriots finished the 2023 season at 4-13, parted ways with legendary head coach Bill Belichick, and hired inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo from within the organization to replace him. Less than a year later, Mayo was fired after the Patriots finished 4-13 for a second consecutive year.

It isn’t their record, as counterintuitive as that may seem. The Patriots were projected by nearly everybody to finish last in their division, so it’s not like 2024 was a year of playoff aspirations. The firing comes on the heels of Mayo’s public comments, reports about his interactions with the team, and scrutiny about his relationship with owner Robert Kraft.

Mayo first joined the Patriots in 2008 as their first-round draft pick, and played for them for eight seasons. Three years after his retirement, in 2019, he returned as their inside linebackers coach.

So it was with under five years of coaching experience, with NFL tenure under only one franchise, that Mayo assumed the position of head coach in January of 2024. He was the youngest head coach in the NFL at the time. In the post-firing press conference, Kraft said he felt “guilty” about putting Mayo in such a broad, high-pressure role before he had time to develop as a coach.

From the start, it seemed that Mayo was trying too hard to deviate from Belichick’s stern, strict presence. He repeatedly referred to Kraft as “Young Thundercat” and “Thunder” in public appearances, raising questions about his relationship with the owner who hand-picked him. Following a drowsy Week 15 loss, Mayo played cards with players on the ride back rather than studying film with his assistants.

More telling, though, were Mayo’s comments to the media about team decisions. He doubled back on some decisions, including starting Jacoby Brissett or rookie Drake Maye, and said some brazen things that he later had to take back – most notably, following the Patriots’ sixth consecutive loss in Week 7, he said, “We’re a weak team across the board.”

“Look, let me just go ahead and correct that,” he said the day later. “We’re playing soft. Because if you go back to training camp, there was definitely some toughness all around the place. We still have the same players. We’ve just got to play that way.”

From discussing poor clock management to implicitly criticizing offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, Mayo took back so many statements that his post-postgame press conferences were dubbed “Walkback Mondays.”

Mayo was also reportedly unable to corral his players, which showed in their comments to the press. Notably, linebacker Jahlani Tavai disparaged the home crowd for booing the team, which Mayo addressed in a team meeting. The only problem? Rather than apologize, Tavai later doubled down.

“Honestly, Jerod is a good guy,” a team source said. “I just don’t think he was ready for all the big decisions and discipline and focus the job takes.”

Former Patriots superstar Rob Gronkowski also weighed in on the firing, emphasizing Mayo’s lack of experience. “I think it was unfair to coach Jerod Mayo,” he said. “He had never had the chance to develop as a head coach.”

“He was just a rookie himself in that department. If you judge a coach by their first year, that’s really not appropriate.”

Ultimately, though, the Patriots’ culture floundered under Mayo, and his coaching wasn’t improved by a list of maladies, including arguably the worst roster in the NFL, the breakdown of a succession plan that would’ve had him grow for another year behind Belichick, and flat-out unrealistic expectations.

And the Patriots are now on the hunt for a third head coach in as many years.