New report indicates major reason Patriots fired Jerod Mayo

New report indicates major reason Patriots fired Jerod Mayo

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 05: Head coach Jerod Mayo and players of the New England Patriots on the field before the game against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on January 05, 2025 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images)

Jerod Mayo deserved to be fired for a long list of reasons, big and small. But perhaps the biggest factor in Mayo’s ouster as Patriots head coach was one that permeated the team and the building.

Unfortunately for Mayo, a major reason that he lasted only one season at the helm is the culture that he built. Mayo as head coach fancied himself a leader of men, a developer of people. He described accountability as one of his key tenets. But instead, Mayo somehow created the opposite culture, one of finger-pointing and excuse-making. And it ultimately infected the entire operation, both on and off the field.

A new report by the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed suggests that Mayo’s culture had become a major problem for the Patriots. Kyed wrote Sunday on X: “Patriots players publicly stated their support for Jerod Mayo, but team sources have described a poor culture with a lack of leadership that can make demanding and decisive decisions.”

MORE: What should the Patriots prioritize when hiring their next head coach?

Mayo’s predecessor, Bill Belichick, was known for just that, being demanding and decisive. It helped the Patriots win at the highest level of any franchise in sports history when he and Tom Brady dominated the league for two decades. It certainly didn’t work nearly as well without Brady. But without Brady and Belichick, and Mayo taking the reins as a “Mr. Nice Guy” type, the lack of strong, tough leadership took a bad situation and made it even worse.

Billie Weiss/Getty Images Jerod Mayo

The players’ support of Mayo was part of the problem. They enjoyed a lighter atmosphere and friendlier culture internally, but it didn’t translate to even a minimally competent football operation, let alone wins. It turns out that the “player’s coach” approach – which Mayo appeared to take to an extreme – doesn’t work in the NFL. These guys need tough coaching and discipline, whether they know it or not, whether they like it or not.

Mayo’s handling of running back Rhamondre Stevenson throughout the season spoke to his lack of command or decisiveness. In Week 5, after Stevenson had fumbled four times in as many games, Mayo said there would be changes in the Pats’ running back usage. Antonio Gibson got the start over Stevenson that Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, but the pair ended up splitting playing time (28 snaps each). Not much of a punishment for Stevenson, who ended up fumbling a whopping seven times over the course of the season.

Then came Week 17, when Mayo committed arguably his most bizarre blunder of a season filled with them. He told multiple broadcast crews that Gibson would be starting against the Chargers, but Stevenson went out and started anyway. Just a negative amount of command of the operation.

MORE: First four Patriots picks set in 2025 NFL Draft

Robert Kraft learned the hard way over the course of the season how unfit Mayo was for the job he’d promised to him five years prior. But thankfully, Kraft showed the kind of decisiveness that the organization needed when he dismissed Mayo less than two hours after the conclusion of Patriots’ season-ending win over the Bills.

It’s likely that the Krafts’ next choice for head coach, be it Mike Vrabel or otherwise, will promise to take a more demanding and decisive approach. It’s clear that, no matter which players end up back in that locker room in 2025, the team needs it. And Mayo wasn’t delivering it.

Coming next: the smear campaign.

Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.

Matt, a North Andover, Massachusetts native, has been with The Sports Hub since 2010. Growing up the son of Boston University All-American and Melrose High School hall-of-fame hockey player Steve Dolloff, sports was always a part of his life. After attending Northeastern University, Matt focused his love of sports on writing, extensively writing about all four major Boston teams. He also is a co-host of the Sports Hub Underground podcast and is a regular on-air contributor on the Sports Hub. Matt writes about all New England sports from Patriots football to Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins.

Click here to read article