After going over two decades without having to make a change at head coach, the New England Patriots will be swapping head coaches for a second straight offseason.
The Patriots fired head coach Jerod Mayo, the team announced on Sunday.
Mayo had a rocky first season as head coach. The former Patriots star player went 4-13 as New England finished with the fourth-worst record in the league.
It had been reported throughout the season that Mayo was expected to remain as Patriots head coach for 2025 due to owner Robert Kraft’s affinity for him. Kraft had placed a clause in Mayo’s contract during the 2023 offseason that would allow him to promote the then-linebackers coach to head coach without having to go through the interview process. Additionally, Kraft had said that he knew Mayo was the man he wanted to replace Bill Belichick as early as 2019.
However, New England’s season quickly went into free fall after its upset win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1. The Patriots lost six straight games after that victory, inserting rookie Drake Maye as the starting quarterback in the middle of the losing streak. They later lost six more consecutive games before ending the season with a 23-16 win over the Buffalo Bills.
Maye was a bright spot for the Patriots, showing signs that he could be the franchise quarterback with subpar talent around him. But he was arguably the lone bright spot in New England this season. The Patriots statistically remained one of the worst in the league while their defense went from the top 10 in many metrics in 2023 to the top bottom 10 in those same stats this season.
As the Patriots were reeling, Mayo had multiple press conference gaffes that also led some to question whether the 38-year-old was ready for the job. Their 40-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 17 also marked a low point for the franchise. As fans chanted for Mayo to be fired late in that game, three players publicly called out fans for their chants after the loss.
Now, Kraft and the Patriots will go through their first real head coaching search since they hired Belichick 25 years ago. They didn’t interview anyone for the role last season, promoting Mayo a day after they parted ways with Belichick.
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