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Patriots fire Jerod Mayo, Bill Belichick's replacement, after just 1 season

frank schwab
Senior writer
·2-min read

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.