One and Done

Yes, sometimes a rookie head coach does not deserve a second year. A few seasons ago, Jerod Mayo was guaranteed the New England Patriots head coaching job when other teams started showing interest in the coach. Kraft held Mayo in such high regard that he promised him the keys to the kingdom without ever really proving himself. One would think that with that promise, Mayo would have better prepared himself when it came time to take the reigns.

Unfortunately for Mayo (fortunately for Pats fans), he did nothing to prepare himself and completely fumbled his golden opportunity. A chance for a fresh start for the entire franchise after decades of Brady and Belichick, and what is the season’s highlight? It was an opening day surprise win and two separate six-game losing streaks; doesn’t exactly scream success.
Jerod Mayo had a rookie QB, third overall pick Drake Maye. By all accounts, Maye was NFL-ready and quite clearly outplayed Jacoby Brissett during training camp and the preseason (which Mayo admitted). What does Mayo do? He starts Jacoby Brissett for the first five weeks of the season and FINALLY decides that Maye will start in week six. Just one problem, Jerod. At that point, the team was 1-4 with two losses to division opponents. You might as well hand over the keys to a car without wheels.

In addition to blundering the quarterback situation from the beginning, Mayo also shot himself in the foot week after week with his mouth. The first instance was when he cited the Patriots’ cap space and said they were “ready to spend some cash” during his introductory press conference and then had to “clarify” his comments. Then, he “promised to win more than four games.” And, let’s not forget when he chose to call his team soft publicly but would walk his comments back the following week. The last big situation in this gaggle of screw up’s was announcing, not once but twice, that Rhamondre Stevenson would be benched for being unable to hold onto the ball. Antonio Gibson would get the reps in Stevenson’s place……. Well, until it changed and Stevenson was benched for one series the first time, and then not at all the second time.

One thing that became evident as the season went on was that Mayo had no control over that locker room. Guys were posting cryptic messages on social media (2 of which were released), making comments in the press, insulting the fans (you know, the people that pay their hard-earned money to watch you play), and it was just a free-for-all, a far cry from the Belichick regime where he had that room on lockdown. The biggest tell was when second-year defensive end Keion White commented about now-former head coach Bill Belichick and how he appreciated his tough-love leadership style. White stated, “It is what it is; something’s gotta change. That’s the way I feel at this point.”

A clear inability to be a true leader, not able to grab the bull by the horns when times got tough, and not leading his players in a forward direction are all reasons Jerod Mayo will not be back as the Patriots head coach. One thing I always noticed about Belichick was we would see him coaching the sideline after big plays or mistakes, correcting the problem and coaching the mistakes in real time. Mayo patrolled the sidelines and very rarely was seen coaching up his players. Mayo couldn’t manage the clock, he couldn’t be bold enough to go for it on fourth downs when the team had nothing to lose, and ultimately he couldn’t hold his players accountable. Being a head coach in the NFL is not a job where you tread lightly and always take the safe bet.

So yes, sometimes a head coach does not deserve a second season. Many analysts and experts believe the tipping point and final decision was made when the Patriots came out of the bye week and were as flat as they had been the entire season. Expectations of Mayo were low, but some improvement was expected. Mayo proved to everyone that a head coaching position was WAY above his level at this current point in his career. Mayo failed to meet the lowest expectations and put together even a minimally competent coaching staff. So now, Jerod Mayo is jobless and suffering the consequences of being unprepared for his golden opportunity.