Jerod Mayo Might Have Just Talked His Way Onto the Coaching Hot Seat
If ever there was a time to long for the sweet, misty, watercolor memories of the days when Bill Belichick would alienate the entire world outside of his locker room and his fanbase by giving evasive non-answers at his press conferences, this is it.
Sure the media despised that treatment. And welcomed a new age when they could be sure to a moral certainty Jerod Mayo would give thoughtful, respectful and expansive answers to their questions. But not because their interests align with the fans. But because it makes for good copy. Especially when Mayo says something regrettable. Something he has to walk back the next day. Which is pretty much every week at this point.
This one being no exception. Yesterday:
Today:
Which makes a terrible case for openness and transparency when dealing with the press. But makes an even worse case for Mayo's future as head coach of the Patriots:
NBC Sports Boston - "Correct me if I'm wrong guys, but that felt like he was throwing (offensive coordinator) Alex Van Pelt under the bus," Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer said Sunday night on NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Postgame Live, as seen in the video player above.
"I just think that it's a really hard thing to come back from because the players see that. They see the lack of accountability [and] they're all gonna think that Jerod Mayo is on the hot seat in 2025.
"And now you have this, where he threw a guy who's been in the industry for a long time under the bus. … [I]t's starting to feel like if you're the Krafts and you're looking at it, and it's like we only have one shot at Mike Vrabel, how do you compare what's happened here versus Vrabel? … I can't remember seeing a comment like that from a head coach in 20 years covering the league."
That's true even if the Krafts have their own questions with the playcalling. Which clearly they do. Tell me you weren't on your couch or your barstool saying the exact same thing as Jonathan Kraft was:
But here's the thing about that. Kraft the Younger can say this because he's cutting the checks. We can say it because we're paying the money that helps those checks clear. The one person who can't question his offensive coordinator publicly is Jerod Mayo. Not because he needs to worry about Alex Van Pelt. Pro football doesn't care about your feelings. But because it's bad for Jerod Mayo. Let's not forget that the Patriots OC job wasn't exactly the most desirable career move in America in early 2024.
NESN, January 29th - The Patriots didn't even conduct a head coaching search after parting with Bill Belichick. …
But the offensive coordinator search is a much different story. …
[T]he list of reported interviews/planned interviews [is] up to 11. …
-- Scott Turner (Las Vegas Raiders)
-- Klint Kubiak (San Francisco 49ers)
-- Nick Caley (Los Angeles Rams)
-- Zac Robinson (Los Angeles Rams; hired by Atlanta Falcons)
-- Dan Pitcher (Cincinnati Bengals; hired by Bengals)
-- Shane Waldron (Seattle Seahawks; hired by Bears)
-- Jerrod Johnson (Houston Texans)
-- Thomas Brown (Carolina Panthers)
-- Tanner Engstrand (Detroit Lions)
-- Brian Fleury (San Francisco 49ers)
-- Luke Getsy (Chicago Bears)
Van Pelt was Number 12. At least as far as we know. It's one thing if you're Justin Timberlake and you date 11 stunningly desirable, world class celebrities before you put a ring on Jessica Biel. This is the exact opposite dynamic.
Anyone with another option wanted no part of the seeming career suicide of working under a rookie head coach without so much as a day of defensive coordinator experience and an unknown quantity at quarterback. And you can see why. Because the interview process was weird and "light on football."
They settled on Van Pelt because he was the Cleveland 5 as the bar was closing. He in turn, took the offer because no one else was going to ask. So the least Mayo could do is treat him with some gratitude. Again, not for AVP's sake, but for his own.
Here's what happens when you play Pin the Blame on Your Subordinates: No one wants to be your subordinate. The perfect apples-to-apples comparison I have is exactly what happened here in 1999. A Patriots team that started the season 6-2 came out of the midseason bye with three straight losses on the way to a 2-6 finish. And somewhere along the way, as everyone knew Pete Carroll was about to be gone (it was certainly not lost on Pete Carroll), GM Bobby Grier tried to save his job by saying something along the lines of arguing there was plenty enough talent on the roster. Essentially, "I've done my job. It's the coaches' fault we're losing." And in doing so, got himself fired too. Because even if the Krafts believed in him, he left them with no choice. No coach in the league would work for a guy who would tell the mob, "I'm not the one you want! Spare me and take him!" at the first sign of trouble.
Which is precisely what Mayo did with that "You said it" crack. No matter if he gets all his 10,000 steps in trying to walk it back. The damage is done, and cannot be undone. And it's only made worse by the fact a defensive-minded head coach is overseeing the demolition of the NFL's 7th-ranked defense from last season.
Now, does this mean that for sure Pats' ownership's hands are no tied like they were 25 years ago, and they're left with no choice but to fire the guy they put all their faith in? No one outside the walls of the building know that. But this was a very strange development today:
Maybe they're all just tired and shagged out from a cross country red eye flight. But canceling meetings is very much Victory Monday behavior. And we haven't seen one of those since Veteran's Day Weekend. And I can't ever remember Belichick canceling press availabilities. Even though he would've loved to. The media would've lost their collective shit if he ever did. But then again, he never publicly shamed one of his coordinators, either. So we're seeing a lot of precedents set this year.
It remains to be seen if firing a head coach after just one season (which hasn't been done since Rod Rust went 1-15) is one of them.