On NFL Black Monday, Patriots owner Robert Kraft didn’t even wait until Monday to fire head coach Jerod Mayo. Kraft dismissed him immediately after New England’s win over Buffalo.
That win dropped them from securing the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to the fourth pick. It adds to the curriculum of a masterclass in stupidity from an organization looking dumber by the day.
It’s been a rapid and painful fall. There’s plenty of blame to go around.
There Probably Won’t Be a Parade (in Boston Anyway)
The Patriots had grown accustomed to the final game of their season ending with confetti raining down on a smiling (for once) head coach Bill Belichick and Kraft waiting for Commissioner Roger Goodell to hand them the Vince Lombardi trophy again.
Super Bowl MVP quarterback Tom Brady stood on the hastily constructed podium at midfield, his mouth open and eyes wide, palms on his cheeks in a look of made-for-TV joy mouthing, “I don’t belieeeevvveeee iiiiiittttt!!!!” as he blew kisses at his supermodel wife and perfect kids.
The last time was seven years ago.
Now they’re looking for a new head coach and every other fan base is laughing at them. The characters are seeing a Shakespearean end with Kraft (83 and seemingly clueless), Belichick (shut out from any NFL head coaching job and now the head coach at the University of North Carolina), and even Brady (mocked for his clumsy transition into broadcasting, having lost a ton of money in the FTX crypto collapse, and divorced from the supermodel).
Firing Mayo after one year symbolizes the disarray.
An Undeniable Mess With Many Failed Architects
There will be inevitable leaks beyond what’s already been said about Mayo’s 17-game tenure. According to ESPN, Mayo showed inconsistent leadership, said things without thinking, and had no game management skills.
All are true. Perhaps the rapid firing is justified.
But what did Kraft expect with a bad roster and a rookie head coach?
It appears that the owner caved to criticism and pressure. At times, he has blamed Belichick for the team’s decline saying he should not have given so much power to one person. He implied he made the wrong choice when deciding between Brady and Belichick as the coach and quarterback could no longer coexist.
But for a few solid pieces, this team is terrible. Much of that is due to Belichick’s poor drafting and misses on free agents. Part is due to the inevitable decay, apathy, and outright arrogance. They went 4-13 under Belichick in 2023. And if he had stayed, the record in 2024 would have been…4-13.
The Parallel Universe
In 2001, Belichick’s second season, starting quarterback and former number one draft pick Drew Bledsoe was hurt. They lost that game and were 0-2. Belichick’s record as Patriots head coach fell to 5-13. Already, he was worried about getting fired as he was in Cleveland six years earlier.
There is an alternate reality where Bledsoe was not seriously injured and sixth-round draft pick nobody Brady remained glued to the bench as the team staggered on. There’s no 11-3 run. No tuck rule win over the Raiders. No Super Bowl win over the heavily favored Rams.
In that parallel universe, Belichick is forced to stick with Bledsoe, the highest-paid player on the team and Kraft’s surrogate son, despite the quarterback not fitting Belichick’s preferred offense and ignoring game plans.
With the team spiraling and knowing his seat was scorching hot, Belichick says, “To hell with it” and sticks Brady in.
What would Kraft have done if, after the season, Bledsoe said, “Him or me” referring to Belichick?
It was bad enough that the team was atrocious in consecutive years, but he benches the star quarterback for some sixth-rounder?
Bledsoe would not have been wrong to exclaim, “You’re blaming me?”
In that universe, there’s no dynasty. Belichick is fired, reconciles with Bill Parcells, and, by 2004, is in Dallas as assistant head coach, never getting another head coaching opportunity.
This is comparable to what they just did with Mayo.
Good Luck Mike Vrabel
The overwhelming odds say that former Patriots player and ex-Titans head coach Mike Vrabel will get the job. He’s from the “family” and knows the deal. But the deal has changed. He’s walking into a rudderless disaster.
Attention turns to the draft, whom they’ll select, and what the future looks like.
It looks like that other world with many saying it’s a comeuppance for believing they’re smarter than everyone else despite documented incidents of cheating and having been supernaturally fortunate.
And then, if they don’t improve in 2025, what?
Who’s responsible for that?
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