Report: Patriots fire Jerod Mayo, Bill Belichick’s replacement, after just 1 season

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-poor roster. The next 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. It was a bit of a surprise that his tenure lasted just one season.

Mayo was fired after just one season coaching the Patriots, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

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.

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 huge 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 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.