Dec 28, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo watches from the sideline as they take on the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images After just one season, the New England Patriots fired head coach Jerod Mayo on Sunday, according to several reports.
The Patriots shockingly fumbled away the No. 1 overall selection by beating the Buffalo Bills 23-16, but the news of Mayo’s firing broke just about an hour after.
New England will select the No. 4 overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft—but Mayo will not be involved in that decision after a 4-13 season.
After an awkward split with Bill Belichick, who coached the Patriots for 24 seasons, Mayo appeared to be the hand-picked successor by New England’s ownership group led by Robert Kraft.
In a statement, Kraft admits that firing Mayo was one of the hardest decisions he has ever made.
“Unfortunately, the trajectory of our team’s performance throughout the season did not ascend as I had hoped,” Kraft wrote.
A fellow AFC East team—the New York Jets—interviewed Mike Vrabel for their head coach vacancy on Friday. Vrabel was controversially fired from the Tennessee Titans at the conclusion of last season and decided to work with the Cleveland Browns as a consultant throughout this season.
Known for his toughness, leadership, and ability to get buy-in from players, Vrabel will likely emerge as a frontrunner in New England’s search.
Let’s be honest. It was never going to be easy for anybody to replace Belichick, even though he did not have much success at the end of his NFL career.
Selecting Mayo was popular. He was a former Patriot that promised a new toughness and mentality. That’s what the franchise could get in Vrabel, who played for them from 2001-2008. He knows the Patriot Way, and we know how much that means to Kraft.
While Vrabel could have a bunch of NFL offers to choose from, the Patriots would seemingly be an appealing fit. They have a top five draft pick, and they have a young, blue-chip quarterback in Drake Maye. Oh yeah, and they have a casual $130 million in cap space.
It’s certainly a solid situation for a proven head coach, like Vrabel, to come in and quickly turn things around. Remember, this is not a fresh rebuild. They have been doing this since Tom Brady left in 2019.
Vrabel recently caused a stir on social media for changing his profile photo on X to a photo of himself in his Patriots uniform.
It might just be time for him to put on those colors once again.
