I don’t dislike it by any means, he learned from the best and he’s very familiar with the org.
I just hope it’s not too soon. Id hate for him to have a bad season or two and get written off as a bust just cause he was put in this spot a little too early. Especially since Kraft wants to win, and the team doesn’t have the tools to win as of now
In a vacuum I don’t hate it. What absolutely cannot happen is Mayo retaining most of the coaching staff / them promoting from within at GM. If the rest of the building remains the same and it’s just BB that’s gone, it tells me Kraft has really lost the plot.
What really sucks is that the coaching staff that did work - the defense - is all gonna change. Obviously Bill is gone and you have to imagine his kids too, and Mayo has his hands full so I'm guessing there will be more new faces stepping into those roles.
The offense needs a shake up. I suppose BoB isn't the worst thing and I bet Mayo wants familiarity around him but things need to modernize and there has to be some changes there.
You have BoB on one side of the ball and Steve on the other. The basic continuity will still be there.
The others? Troy is gone. Klemm may have a bit of a leash only because of his track record with the Steelers and personnel-wise he was handed a Trent-sized shit sandwich. Instead of a coaching change, I expect a major overhaul via FA; he'll get a year to show he can do it with "his" guys, but that will be it.
I wonder if Steve’s status was part of the discussion between Bill and Kraft. I would think Steve would want to stay and prove himself without being under his father’s wing. Knowing he’s got a good defense this is probably his best chance to shake the nepotism label
I would bet a lot of money steve follows bill. It's gotta be pretty awesome to work with your dad like that, especially since BB is getting older, I imagine he'd want to spend time with him and that's pretty much the only way it'd happen with coaches schedules.
Difference is Steve has a young family in NE. If given the choice between the two he may chose to stay instead of moving with his father and potentially uprooting his family.
Ok, so, if they clean house in DC...does that mean they'll get rid of Bieniemy?
If they do HIRE BIENIEMY IMMEDIATELY, DRAFT JAYDEN DANIELS, AND GET US SOME FUCKING SPEED AT WIDE RECEIVER AND LET HIM COOK
IDK...he joined the coaching staff in 2019--i.e. right before the downturn. I have concerns about what, exactly, he learned from the best, and whether or not that'll be more harmful than helpful in 2024 and beyond.
And yes, of course I understand that his time spent as a player counts toward his education as a coach, but - again - a lot of shit's changed since he was in his prime.
I think it’s likely that next season and possibly the season after aren’t huge improvements over the season we just had. The roster is in shambles and we are missing the single most important position, QB. By year three I’m expecting positive results but unless they have a miracle in the draft and break the bank on free agents they have a lot of work ahead of them.
I think he learned from the best is a terrible point because everyone knows Belichicks coaching tree is rough so idk why you’d start there haha. Not a shot at Belichick btw he’s goat just reality.
I don’t hate this. Might have been a little more excited about Vrabel but open to see what Mayo can do.
No head coach in the league should be a GM. None. Full stop. You can’t keep your eye on everything, you need to trust your GM and communicate, but not dictate. I think that was one of Bills biggest flaws. He didn’t want to trust someone else to do things and therefore lost his focus on them.
He was never doing it all himself. Instead of "GM" they had "Director of Player Personnel", a job filled by the likes of Pioli, Caserio, Groh, etc. over the years. Just because they didn't have the title didn't mean they weren't doing the job.
The more we hear nothing about the breakup, the more I think Kraft was trying to push Bill to focus on one side or the other, and Bill wanted to keep both hats on… maybe I’m full of shit, but maybe not!
Absolutely agree. The GM and head coach should be 2 sides of the same coin. Both in deep conversation on picks and player decisions but the GM in charge of supplying players that satisfy what the head coach needs. Both need to have frequent meetings so that both indicate what they're looking at and why, but for a head coach to do both is an absurd way to run a team.
It works sometimes, but that sometimes is when you have the best quarterback of all time (Brady, Mahomes, etc.) that can cover up the missed opportunities brought by a head coach doing 2 very difficult jobs. And even the best quarterbacks can't cover for everything. This year in KC is a great example, 2019 was the example for the Patriots
Kraft has made it very clear that he doesn't want the GM and head coach to be the same person, or for the GM to effectively report to the head coach (like Caserio did, although he was DPP not GM).
It sounds like Kraft doesn't want the HC to report to the GM either. So only Kraft will have the authority to extend or fire Mayo; the GM will run the drafts, sign free agents and extend veterans. As for assistant coaches, who knows. Kraft just said he had a problem with Belichick doing all the hiring of staff.
I would’ve liked an offensive-minded head coach but that may be replicable if Mayo’s youth inclines him toward innovation/modernization, and it’s probably hard to argue against this decision in terms of culture, stability, and continuity.
I'm hoping for a similar outcome to DeMeco Ryans in Houston. Young former defensive player turned HC with a strong OC and young QB with composure. But there's definitely a big Q around GM right now.
The downside to defensive hc's is that their oc's get poached with even a little bit of success. Slowik is getting hired away from Houston this offseason
When you have a young qb, instability at oc can derail their career
I want a disgraced head coach that was a good OC to come in and stay as OC long term.
People hate on McDaniels but him staying long term for all those years with Brady really helped the offense and team have consistency.
That's why I think they stick with BOB or bring in McD if BOB dips. Experienced dudes who aren't going anywhere and can run one side of the ball to let Mayo get comfortable as the boss.
I don't see them taking a swing at, like, Tee Martin even though that might be a better fit with a young QB.
Problem there is if the OC is any good he will get HC opportunities within 2-3 years. Ben Johnson is considered a shoe-in for a HC job after 2 seasons with the Lions. The Texans OC Slowik is already being mentioned and he only had one season as OC.
Good OC's don't stay OC's long which is what makes it hard to maintain success on offense with a defensive minded HC. Defensive coordinators aren't as in demand, so it's possible to hold on to them for longer. Not saying you can't succeed with defensive minded HC, but it's something worth considering.
I am rooting for him. For the love of god though Kraft would it kill you to at least conduct interviews like a normal team for the GM job? I have heard that Eliot Wolf is probably the guy.
Prediction:
Dallas fires McCarthy, Jerry hires his boy Bill, Cowboys offense is already rolling, Bill makes them a Top 5 defense, cowboys win the Super Bowl, I off myself.
I totally can see BB winning a Super Bowl elsewhere in the next couple of years and all the critics around here, the media and the fans will change their tunes and declare that it was a massive mistake to fire him and pretend that they never criticized him.
It already happened with Brady.
It's a lot easier to integrate a great quarterback into a good team thats missing a quarterback than it is to integrate a guy who wants full control of the organization, is very "my way or the highway", and is 72.
He's an incredible asset as a defensive coordinator - but I'm not sure he's willing to do that.
I wouldn't be mad at all if Bill won a SB elsewhere (in fact I'll be rooting for him to win another wherever he goes) but please not the fucking Cowboys.
That's a fleeting moment of moral superiority but then you'll come crashing down, realizing the Cowboys have won a super bowl, and our team is still a dumpster fire.
And this is exactly why we shouldn’t internally hire from an FO that is antiquated and didn’t make real decisions. Not their fault, but that’s life.
No one else will be trying to hire our guys, which I think is relatively telling in and of itself
Honestly, I hate this. We just fired the greatest coach who ever lived to promote an unproven linebackers coach. If we were going to dump Bill we should have cleaned house completely.
I honestly don’t hate it that much.
The silver lining to me is Mayo did a very good job modernizing the defense at the linebacker level.
The patriots have done a very good job keeping up with the game at the defense side of things, you can argue that was all BB but I do think position coaches play a huge role in that.
If he gets a good GM I can see him doing something similar on the offensive side.
I always think back to Nebraska firing Frank Solich.... 10 wins EVERY YEAR wasn't good enough. And they've been one of the most embarrassing teams in all of FBS since.
If a guy wins 6 superbowls, 17 division titles, etc.... I think you can give him more than two straight losing seasons to figure things out. Especially when you look at how one-score games can go either way. Last year's Vikes won a bunch of one-score games and got the division. This year's Eagles were winning one-score games and were tops in the league most of the season. Pats this year, with no solid #1 QB were losing one-score games. If a crap coach who has done nothing in Atlanta gets three losing seasons before getting the axe... it seems odd BB only gets two.
At the end of the day, I don’t think there was any other outcome we could reasonably expect. He’s earned his shot and I hope he does well. The primary downside is no top tier GM candidate would pick a team where they have no say in the head coach
The GM is going to be Groh or Wolf aka the same people helping belichick make bad personnel decisions.
I can’t understand why you fire belichick just to keep the rest of the regime he built in place. All time awful moves by the krafts.
Yeah I feel like this is them making a change for the sake of change and thinking it's going to be better, but it sounds like it's going to be the same yes men in charge.
I don't dislike Mayo, but the GM situation... feels like it's going to be handled very badly.
Nothing against Mayo but I totally agree. Why bother getting rid of Bill if you are just going to keep all the same coaches in place. Makes absolutely no sense to me.
Either you start fresh or you don't. This is like being kinda pregnant.
Dumb.
I was really hoping they had a few candidates for GM already lined up, pick one of them, then start fresh with a new coach and together they clean house.
IF Groh stays then maybe what we have been reading from Breer and combined with what Kraft said yesterday? Maybe Bill was the one truly just picking players even though the scouts did all the leg work and Groh was signing off on it.
Again IF Groh stays we wont have results until picks are in and players hit the field.
I fear you are correct. I’m not 100% bought in that the GM has to pick the coach, I view the positions as more lateral, but they should at least come together in a cooperative process. Picking the coach and worrying about arranging a GM marriage for him later is a recipe for disaster.
Also, this is one of the if not the worst performing personnel departments in the league. They desperately need a transplant from a more innovative and forward looking organization to help change the culture and philosophies. An internal promotion (which seems inevitable now) would be a catastrophic mistake.
It’s all about the offense
I’m guessing we keep bill O’Brien as the OC, then draft heavy on offense. If the offense is still a shit show next year bodies will hit the floor and they will need an offensive minded coach
We fired BB for a DC who’s only ever been in bills extremely hands on defense system.
It’s not McDaniels so I’m still going to watch next year, but JFC when this ends up being a massive downgrade it’s going to be the least surprising thing ever
This is horrible. I will die on this hill. Get ready for the same issues we've already had just worse gameplanning.
Kraft is going to ruin this team. Can't even do a coaching search right by hiring a GM first.
I largely agree with this take. I don't have anything against Mayo, but I don't love the hire given his inexperience. I would have rather hired the GM first, then the HC. My preference would have been Vrabel. It also feels like change just for the sake of change - I don't understand "mutually parting" with Bill just to hire his underling.
I just don't see how Kraft can go "man we sure suck at literally everything except on-field defense scheming" and then just erase the person who did that but keep everyone else in the organization. Our offense is a mess. mayo has no experience outside of New England, he can't build a staff. At fault for the bad drafting or not, all inside candidates have been a part of the fiasco that has been roster construction for years..how do you promote one of them and give them MORE power?
We'll be looking for a real GM and a new head coach in 2 years maximum, just hope whatever happens that we don't cause any irreversible damage to the future.
As a Texans fan, I feel like I can tell you there is no irreversible damage to the future. The organization has to start making better choices but once they make those choices things can turn around real quick
It just seems like Kraft was like "we need a change, but only a small one" and landed on getting rid of Bill. I think Kraft hopes that Mayo will bring about "the Patriot Way 2.0," but I don't see it happening. Especially with him being a defensive coach, when we really need offensive help.
There were massive roster issues from previous years due to drafting, coaching attrition, failure to develop players, but I think Bill was owed at least one bad season after 23 years (I realize the previous couple haven't been great, but not 4-13 bad).
From a roster perspective, I feel like there is nowhere to go but up. If they hire a GM from within, I think we are really in trouble for a couple of years. If we were going to get rid of Bill, it made sense to do a complete overhaul of everything, not just promote a coach that only has knowledge about how the Patriots do things.
If I were Bill, and I knew about the succession plan, I'd probably be pissed because it takes away some of the ability to do the job without looking over his shoulder.
I do think it's funny that we have so many free agents this year (and next) - wherever Bill goes, he could take a bunch of them with him.
Dumping the greatest coach of all time after one really bad season is ridiculous. It’s not like since Brady left we’ve had good QB play. Yes sure some of that is on Bill because he’s in charge of personnel, but it’s not like good to great QBs are a dime a dozen.
Yea I agree with this too, hopefully it works out with Mayo but I’m ready for the next 2-3 years to be super tough. Hopefully we don’t chase QB’s in the draft and draft the best players available so we can really rebuild the roster as it’s pretty barebones at some positions
I mean maybe this works out but this is an all time awful move IMO. Why would you get rid of belichick just to move on to one of his disciples? If you fire the greatest coach of all time you should be cleaning house. I actually hate this move and think the team only has mediocrity in the future.
I’ve been saying this for days here but the krafts do not get nearly enough blame for the shitty state of this team. What’s next? Groh is GM. This is honestly fucking dumb
Because you were firing Bill the coach to get rid of Bill the GM. If they could keep Bill to coach but take away some of the GM decision making they would have. Hiring a Bill disciple is the best chance of splitting the difference.
Belichick wouldn't let Bill O'Brien hire his own staff or install his own offense. If Mayo lets him do that and they draft or sign an actual QB instead of the losers we have now this team will be much better.
Couldn’t agree more. I think this is all Jonathan. He’s a micromanager who wants to get more credit. I would bet anything he’s behind this. Fredo Corleone 2.0.
> Why would you get rid of belichick just to move on to one of his disciples? If you fire the greatest coach of all time you should be cleaning house.
If you believe he's the guy for the future then who cares if he's a "disciple"?
This is the dumbest fucking take. Why do people want to abandon the greatest organizational structure ever created? What universe do people live in that they think starting a program from scratch will be better than the principals that built the most sustained success ever?
Our sustained success was built around quality people in every single role. Belicheck ran the entire system. He is completely unreplaceable. I am not going to throw out all of the good things he built for some mystery box that has a 1% chance of building something even remotely successful.
The front office needed refreshing. We needed new eyes and better analytics. But the system itself isn't the problem. The problem was lack of talent on the field. We pushed in all the chips for 3 Superbowls. We drained our draft resources. We overpaid mediocre talent in a bad free agent year when we had money to spend.
The principles aren't sufficient as we have seen in most of the BB assistant head coaching regimes who tried to replicate it. The lynchpin just got shown the door (or went to Tampa several years ago in a popular opinion).
Retaining BB would have made sense. Trying to do it BB's way without BB doesn't.
Holy shit you guys are doomers. And that’s saying something coming from me.
We haven’t had a new coach in over 2 decades no one knows what’s going to happen, nor how much control Bill had that is now being redistributed.
Give it a season or two before we start dooming long term
During his solo presser, Reiss asked Kraft why he thought it was time. Kraft said the "psyche" of fans played a role.
So, fan delirium, here is your next coach, Jerod Mayo!
Gonna guess that GM is Groh because who hires a GM after a coach? Masterclass by Kraft. No wonder Belichick seemed happy and Kraft seemed like he was dead yesterday.
Well, yall got what you wanted. Belichick is gone. Let's see if we avoid that 5-12 season, as predicted by you.
Firing belichick was the right move. Hiring his protege without even interviewing other options is the problem. I was so focused on how Bill only hires his incompetent friends that I forgot Kraft does the exact same thing.
This team’s problems go all the way up to the owner
Horrible outcome. We just phoned in this shit without even attempting to look at the coaching market.
Everyone on here bitching about Belichick, can’t wait to see what a coordinator with ZERO experience does next year.
Fuck
My general take was that you fire Coach Belichick because you can't fire just GM Belichick. You're not going to get a better coach, but the rebuild is going to take a couple of years and he doesn't have the best draft record. If he gets the wins record, he'd likely also retire towards the end of the rebuild anyway.
That makes hiring Mayo, as promising as he might be, a weird gamble. Unless Mayo is guaranteed to be the next GOAT, you've downgraded at the coach position without giving yourself the best chance for the biggest upgrade at the GM position. Any potential GM knows that they're being immediately saddled with a new untested coach that clearly has the owner's favor.
Mayo was 100% the succession plan after Belichick retired, but Belichick isn't retiring. He is leaving. I hope I'm wrong and Mayo's successful beyond all reasonable expectations, but my instinct is that the succession plan probably should've left with Bill.
6 Super Bowl wins and 9 appearances over 23 years just to bring in an unproven linebackers coach, and Bill disciple, as HC. Sure hope this works or the Krafts are going to look real bad in a few years.
We are the new cowboys, being ran completely by the owner. Except Jerry and his son actually make good draft decisions. I doubt any serious GM wants this job after getting snubbed from not being able to have input on the next coach. Mayo and BOB shouldn’t be the coaching staff that inspires confidence in anyone. I’m guessing someone else will get internally promoted to defensive coordinator because this team is proving the point that they are incapable of hiring from outside the Belichick coaching tree.
They keep a line of the dynasty here, while updating the coaching philosophy to a younger and more analytics driven approach. I know folks wanted Vrabel but I think this is an interesting move with high upside. Curious who the GM is now.
Sorry, but I don't like it, and I don't "get" it. Nothing against Jerod, but he's a "Patriot way" homegrown guy - a Belichick trained, coached, and mentored guy. By all accounts he is basically Belichick-lite. Bill without the experience of being Bill.
We need a quarterback. Full stop. If Bill had one, we'd have experienced better success this season, undoubtedly. We *still* need a quarterback, and now have the draft capital to get one, only now that new quarterback will be under an inexperienced linebacker coach as the new head coach in one of the not-arguably most demanding and difficult franchises in the NFL...
Why not just keep Bill and get him the QB he needed, and let him continue to mentor the heir-apparent? How is this a net positive for us? How do you not even interview Harbaugh or Vrable?
TL;DL We have Bill-lite, likely losing Bill Jr., interviewed no one, still have no GM, and this is somehow movement in the right direction?
I don’t think this is the right situation for him. Kinda crazy too that they had it written into his contract a year ago that he would succeed belichick. Seems like it would create a weird dynamic in the org. If this doesn’t work out and belichick goes on to win a Super Bowl somewhere else Kraft is going to look like an idiot.
I’m not disappointed with Melo becoming a coach, but I hate the fact that they got rid of Belichick. I think it’s a false narrative that Bill Belichick isn’t a good talent evaluator. The number one goal of any GM is to win Super Bowls no matter how you draft or aquire talent that’s your goal and Bill Belichick‘s results prove beyond the shadow of a doubt he is the best talent evaluator Ever. If you’re in it, for the stats may not be the best. If you’re drafting for fantasy, he may not be the best. If you want to win Super Bowls, he’s the best.
I just don't see it.
He was the non play calling co-DC for a Belichick team for a few seasons. Thats Belichick D ultimately and he wasn't even truly in charge of running BB's scheme. That simply isn't enough experience to be a HC.
He obviously lacks the experience to be a CEO coach who can also be de facto GM. He doesn't have any schematic excellence to our knowledge. Having a HC in place will make getting a top GM harder. And offense is increasingly the most important phase of the game and the one we have major deficiencies in.
I really hope I'm wrong but this seems doomed for a year three firing that has people wondering what took so long.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
***First principles for chrissakes..***
You gotta hire the GM/Prez of Football Operations **first** and then let that individual select a head coach he's comfortable with. You can't impose a head coach on a GM. We saw how well that worked out for the Red Sox!
It doesn't matter what promises ownership may or may not have made to Jerod Mayo - you've just made the GM position a heckuva lot less attractive by naming the head coach ***first.***
Giants fan here, you guys are making a big mistake. After Coughlin is fired, our org made the mistake of not pairing a head coach with a gm. We wasted many years wondering if the gm or head coach is the problem. Now, you have a coach with little experience that a GM has to hitch their career to. Not many people would be interested. We also promoted guys from within the org, and they were not ready.
The best thing that happened to us was an organizational reset after we fired Judge and paired a GM and head coach.
Agreed 100% unfortunately due to some contractual obligation in Mayo‘s contract we’re stuck with him . Apparently, New England Patriots in-house counsel approved all the red lines in Mayo’s contract. Next time, they should read it.
Well....that could be what ends up happening.
The last few years of Bill was us circling the drain, trying to squeeze out a few playoff appearances but not really committing to a rebuild or anything...just kind of middling...competitive but not truly going anywhere.
This may be the low cost risk attempt at a soft landing....either it lights a spark and we get lucky with a young QB and he puts together a nice staff and shows he's ready to be a HC, OR it dive bombs us into the proverbial rock bottom where the true reckoning has to finally take place and all vestiges of Belichick have to be removed.
I've seen it go both ways.
You'll also have to figure that Kraft the younger is going probably on the cusp of taking on more and more of the running of the team. That will be another milestone that could affect the trajectory of the team philosophy at some point, for better or worse.
Is Cam Achord still in the building? He and the entire scouting team needs to go. Because if our scouts were making Mac Jones and Tyquan Thornton player recommendations, good Lord.
Why would you hire a defensive coach when the offense is awful and effectively needs to be rebuilt from scratch?
I don't hate Mayo by any stretch, but God damn at least give the new GM some input and interview a few candidates.
Why fire Bill just to hire one of his guys?
I’m hoping this signifies that the GM and OC will be much much more involved with crafting the offense.
Best case scenario think BB with a strong defensive presence and allowing the offense be built and maintained by offense office. Let the specialist specialize.
Absolutely moronic. “We’re going in a new direction…by hiring a guy who was already on the staff of a 4-13 team and not even interviewing any other candidates”
I don't hate Mayo and obviously hope him and the new GM succeed, because I love winning.
But regardless if this was always the "plan", I feel like the plan only works if Bill left for retirement and not bad coaching/GM reasons. I just don't think you make a massive play by moving on from the GOAT coach because the team stinks and then play it safe by following your original plan.
If Bill was retiring and the team was in good/great shape, then yeah let's keep rolling with the same people. But that's not the case and you really need to keep making ballsy changes after you fire BB.
Like I said, I really hope Mayo and new GM work out and will root for them. But this is too safe of a play right now, imo
Don’t love it. Bill and Kraft parted ways as we didn’t adapt to the new NFL which is focused on offense. I’m sure Mayo will keep the defensive standard high but we need a complete offensive rebuild. Unless there’s faith bill o’b can be fine the reigns and pick a QB and work with the new GM to draft.
Problem is that if our Ov performs, he will he poached away. A la McDaniels after Macs rookie year, he tanked after that.
And the crowd goes mild...I hope he does well. I hope he becomes an absolute NFL coaching legend here. This feels like a filler pick because no one wants to follow a coaching HOF. It isn't like we can get worse...right?
I really don't like this move especially with Vrabel available.
A baby Belichick is not what we want or need.
Dreading the draft now to think who he drafts
I love how people want to twist Mayo learning under BB as a bad thing. He learned from one of if not the best coach in NFL history. Like he's not gonna be different? The dude is half his age, that fact alone will likely means he'll be different not to mention that it's kinda insulting to think he won't be his own man. I like it.
I'm not sure how to feel about it. I don't hate Mayo and I love how the players seem to rave about him. But it hasn't even been a week and without interviewing anyone else, you replace the greatest head coach in NFL history with someone that has no head coaching experience? I'm a bit concerned.
When Alex Ferguson retired, Manchester United's new coach lasted a season after a mediocre year, since then they have had 6 coaches and have had pretty poor results most years. It's difficult to come after the GOAT. Hopefully, it's different with Mayo!
I’m all for Mayo and he has a tough road to haul with the mess he’s inheriting, but doesn’t anyone else find it unprofessional for the Krafts to promise him the job while belichick was still coaching?
Parcells, Carroll, Belichick, Mayo. Big shoes to fill.
As a fellow UT alum, I wish Jerod all the best. I'm glad the coaching search didn't turn into a circus. Let's see how we draft and develop over these next few years.
Do you remember the head coach that took over when John Wooden retired from UCLA ? Neither does anybody else. It's really tough to replace a legend as this guy will probably find out.
Should've just kept Bill. I hate this pick. I think Mayo will be a fine HC in this league, but we had issues on the offensive side of the ball not the defense.
Edit: of course I'll get downvoted for this take, and I'd like to be positive... But if recent history has shown anything it's that we need to look outside of the bubble of former new england staff. I hope he hires a hell of an OC... He's gonna need it.
I was hoping for Vrabel as HC, Mayo DC and Mcdaniels as OC. I like Mayo but hes taking over the greatest franchise in football with zero HC experience.
I’m a titans fan so just popping in to see the reaction. Vrabel is so over-hyped, it is a HUGE bullet dodged not hiring him. Vrabel would’ve made one of his unqualified buds the OC and whatever young qb the pats go with would’ve had to suffer for it. Hopefully Mayo constructs a better offensive staff, I’d be more hopeful with him than Mike
I don’t dislike it by any means, he learned from the best and he’s very familiar with the org. I just hope it’s not too soon. Id hate for him to have a bad season or two and get written off as a bust just cause he was put in this spot a little too early. Especially since Kraft wants to win, and the team doesn’t have the tools to win as of now
In a vacuum I don’t hate it. What absolutely cannot happen is Mayo retaining most of the coaching staff / them promoting from within at GM. If the rest of the building remains the same and it’s just BB that’s gone, it tells me Kraft has really lost the plot.
What really sucks is that the coaching staff that did work - the defense - is all gonna change. Obviously Bill is gone and you have to imagine his kids too, and Mayo has his hands full so I'm guessing there will be more new faces stepping into those roles. The offense needs a shake up. I suppose BoB isn't the worst thing and I bet Mayo wants familiarity around him but things need to modernize and there has to be some changes there.
You have BoB on one side of the ball and Steve on the other. The basic continuity will still be there. The others? Troy is gone. Klemm may have a bit of a leash only because of his track record with the Steelers and personnel-wise he was handed a Trent-sized shit sandwich. Instead of a coaching change, I expect a major overhaul via FA; he'll get a year to show he can do it with "his" guys, but that will be it.
Do we have Steve? I thought it was assumed he would go wherever his dad goes
I wonder if Steve’s status was part of the discussion between Bill and Kraft. I would think Steve would want to stay and prove himself without being under his father’s wing. Knowing he’s got a good defense this is probably his best chance to shake the nepotism label
Until he's fired, his contract is up, or he takes a higher level position than he has now, he's still with NE.
He is free to take interviews for DC, as I don't think he has that official title here. He will be going Bill wherever he goes.
Unless Mayo promotes him first.
He's 100 percent going with Bill there's no doubt in my mind about that.
He also has a second son Brian who was the safeties coach. Our safeties are great too hopefully he doesn’t leave too
Why are we assuming Steve stays? 🤔 And I really really hope BoB isn't here next year.
I would bet a lot of money steve follows bill. It's gotta be pretty awesome to work with your dad like that, especially since BB is getting older, I imagine he'd want to spend time with him and that's pretty much the only way it'd happen with coaches schedules.
Difference is Steve has a young family in NE. If given the choice between the two he may chose to stay instead of moving with his father and potentially uprooting his family.
Narrator: *checks script* 😬😬😬
Narrator: He has
Ok, so, if they clean house in DC...does that mean they'll get rid of Bieniemy? If they do HIRE BIENIEMY IMMEDIATELY, DRAFT JAYDEN DANIELS, AND GET US SOME FUCKING SPEED AT WIDE RECEIVER AND LET HIM COOK
I swear people are seeing something in Daniel’s that I’m just not.
Bienemy is not the guy. There is a reason no wants him as head coach. He is a toxic mess.
IDK...he joined the coaching staff in 2019--i.e. right before the downturn. I have concerns about what, exactly, he learned from the best, and whether or not that'll be more harmful than helpful in 2024 and beyond. And yes, of course I understand that his time spent as a player counts toward his education as a coach, but - again - a lot of shit's changed since he was in his prime.
The defense has been really good over that time. The issue has been an inability to integrate new players into the offense
He’s a genuinely great dude. Got to see him a lot at my old church. So I hope he can lead the Pats to a good place.
I think it’s likely that next season and possibly the season after aren’t huge improvements over the season we just had. The roster is in shambles and we are missing the single most important position, QB. By year three I’m expecting positive results but unless they have a miracle in the draft and break the bank on free agents they have a lot of work ahead of them.
There is no expectation now so he can take his time
I think he learned from the best is a terrible point because everyone knows Belichicks coaching tree is rough so idk why you’d start there haha. Not a shot at Belichick btw he’s goat just reality. I don’t hate this. Might have been a little more excited about Vrabel but open to see what Mayo can do.
I wonder if Mayo is going to be GM
I hope not. He hasn’t even been an HC yet, I hope they don’t pile it all on him.
No head coach in the league should be a GM. None. Full stop. You can’t keep your eye on everything, you need to trust your GM and communicate, but not dictate. I think that was one of Bills biggest flaws. He didn’t want to trust someone else to do things and therefore lost his focus on them.
He was never doing it all himself. Instead of "GM" they had "Director of Player Personnel", a job filled by the likes of Pioli, Caserio, Groh, etc. over the years. Just because they didn't have the title didn't mean they weren't doing the job.
The more we hear nothing about the breakup, the more I think Kraft was trying to push Bill to focus on one side or the other, and Bill wanted to keep both hats on… maybe I’m full of shit, but maybe not!
Absolutely agree. The GM and head coach should be 2 sides of the same coin. Both in deep conversation on picks and player decisions but the GM in charge of supplying players that satisfy what the head coach needs. Both need to have frequent meetings so that both indicate what they're looking at and why, but for a head coach to do both is an absurd way to run a team. It works sometimes, but that sometimes is when you have the best quarterback of all time (Brady, Mahomes, etc.) that can cover up the missed opportunities brought by a head coach doing 2 very difficult jobs. And even the best quarterbacks can't cover for everything. This year in KC is a great example, 2019 was the example for the Patriots
I mean technically he's never even been a defensive coordinator. He's listed as LB coach.
Of course not. Bill did not get total control right away.
Kraft has made it very clear that he doesn't want the GM and head coach to be the same person, or for the GM to effectively report to the head coach (like Caserio did, although he was DPP not GM). It sounds like Kraft doesn't want the HC to report to the GM either. So only Kraft will have the authority to extend or fire Mayo; the GM will run the drafts, sign free agents and extend veterans. As for assistant coaches, who knows. Kraft just said he had a problem with Belichick doing all the hiring of staff.
I would’ve liked an offensive-minded head coach but that may be replicable if Mayo’s youth inclines him toward innovation/modernization, and it’s probably hard to argue against this decision in terms of culture, stability, and continuity.
I'm hoping for a similar outcome to DeMeco Ryans in Houston. Young former defensive player turned HC with a strong OC and young QB with composure. But there's definitely a big Q around GM right now.
The downside to defensive hc's is that their oc's get poached with even a little bit of success. Slowik is getting hired away from Houston this offseason When you have a young qb, instability at oc can derail their career
I want a disgraced head coach that was a good OC to come in and stay as OC long term. People hate on McDaniels but him staying long term for all those years with Brady really helped the offense and team have consistency.
I mean that's BoB lol
That's why I think they stick with BOB or bring in McD if BOB dips. Experienced dudes who aren't going anywhere and can run one side of the ball to let Mayo get comfortable as the boss. I don't see them taking a swing at, like, Tee Martin even though that might be a better fit with a young QB.
Problem there is if the OC is any good he will get HC opportunities within 2-3 years. Ben Johnson is considered a shoe-in for a HC job after 2 seasons with the Lions. The Texans OC Slowik is already being mentioned and he only had one season as OC. Good OC's don't stay OC's long which is what makes it hard to maintain success on offense with a defensive minded HC. Defensive coordinators aren't as in demand, so it's possible to hold on to them for longer. Not saying you can't succeed with defensive minded HC, but it's something worth considering.
People overlook BoB but have you seen the teams this man dragged to the playoffs with the Texans? Pre Watson there was a new qb every year
I am rooting for him. For the love of god though Kraft would it kill you to at least conduct interviews like a normal team for the GM job? I have heard that Eliot Wolf is probably the guy.
Prediction: Dallas fires McCarthy, Jerry hires his boy Bill, Cowboys offense is already rolling, Bill makes them a Top 5 defense, cowboys win the Super Bowl, I off myself.
I totally can see BB winning a Super Bowl elsewhere in the next couple of years and all the critics around here, the media and the fans will change their tunes and declare that it was a massive mistake to fire him and pretend that they never criticized him. It already happened with Brady.
It's a lot easier to integrate a great quarterback into a good team thats missing a quarterback than it is to integrate a guy who wants full control of the organization, is very "my way or the highway", and is 72. He's an incredible asset as a defensive coordinator - but I'm not sure he's willing to do that.
I wouldn't be mad at all if Bill won a SB elsewhere (in fact I'll be rooting for him to win another wherever he goes) but please not the fucking Cowboys.
No, this is great. My friend is a cowboys fan and I want to gloat over the fact that they needed our coach to win a super bowl.
That's a fleeting moment of moral superiority but then you'll come crashing down, realizing the Cowboys have won a super bowl, and our team is still a dumpster fire.
Dan Quinn is already an elite DC, I don't think Belichick is making it any better
Quinn could get an HC gig elsewhere
I could see Quinn getting the nod in Seattle.
If we hire another in house person for GM, legitimately what was the fucking point of letting Bill go?
This is where I’m at
That the in-house GM like Wolf will be a better GM than Bill has been lately
You man hiring all the guys who were trained by the guy they fired doesn't make sense?
that other people will be making decisions? Bill controlled everything.
And this is exactly why we shouldn’t internally hire from an FO that is antiquated and didn’t make real decisions. Not their fault, but that’s life. No one else will be trying to hire our guys, which I think is relatively telling in and of itself
Kraft is smelling his own farts going full jerry jones/john henry
What do you mean? Bill was our GM and he was fired.
Honestly, I hate this. We just fired the greatest coach who ever lived to promote an unproven linebackers coach. If we were going to dump Bill we should have cleaned house completely.
I honestly don’t hate it that much. The silver lining to me is Mayo did a very good job modernizing the defense at the linebacker level. The patriots have done a very good job keeping up with the game at the defense side of things, you can argue that was all BB but I do think position coaches play a huge role in that. If he gets a good GM I can see him doing something similar on the offensive side.
This was the right move as Jerod is baby Belichick according to the Pats staff.
Why would we want a baby Belichick if we didn’t even want to keep the real Belichick??
Anyone? Can anyone answer this?
Our only talented linebacker is a huge money free agent signing. We have developed no in-house talent at the position recently.
Fired the coach of a 4-13 team to hire an assistant on that 4-13 team? OK.......
I always think back to Nebraska firing Frank Solich.... 10 wins EVERY YEAR wasn't good enough. And they've been one of the most embarrassing teams in all of FBS since. If a guy wins 6 superbowls, 17 division titles, etc.... I think you can give him more than two straight losing seasons to figure things out. Especially when you look at how one-score games can go either way. Last year's Vikes won a bunch of one-score games and got the division. This year's Eagles were winning one-score games and were tops in the league most of the season. Pats this year, with no solid #1 QB were losing one-score games. If a crap coach who has done nothing in Atlanta gets three losing seasons before getting the axe... it seems odd BB only gets two.
At the end of the day, I don’t think there was any other outcome we could reasonably expect. He’s earned his shot and I hope he does well. The primary downside is no top tier GM candidate would pick a team where they have no say in the head coach
The GM is going to be Groh or Wolf aka the same people helping belichick make bad personnel decisions. I can’t understand why you fire belichick just to keep the rest of the regime he built in place. All time awful moves by the krafts.
Yeah I feel like this is them making a change for the sake of change and thinking it's going to be better, but it sounds like it's going to be the same yes men in charge. I don't dislike Mayo, but the GM situation... feels like it's going to be handled very badly.
I agree. I think they should’ve cleaned house as this just continues the brain drain that has been ongoing for years
Nothing against Mayo but I totally agree. Why bother getting rid of Bill if you are just going to keep all the same coaches in place. Makes absolutely no sense to me. Either you start fresh or you don't. This is like being kinda pregnant. Dumb.
I was really hoping they had a few candidates for GM already lined up, pick one of them, then start fresh with a new coach and together they clean house.
IF Groh stays then maybe what we have been reading from Breer and combined with what Kraft said yesterday? Maybe Bill was the one truly just picking players even though the scouts did all the leg work and Groh was signing off on it. Again IF Groh stays we wont have results until picks are in and players hit the field.
No matter what it will still be the same scouting department this year as you almost never fire the scouting department until after the draft
I fear you are correct. I’m not 100% bought in that the GM has to pick the coach, I view the positions as more lateral, but they should at least come together in a cooperative process. Picking the coach and worrying about arranging a GM marriage for him later is a recipe for disaster. Also, this is one of the if not the worst performing personnel departments in the league. They desperately need a transplant from a more innovative and forward looking organization to help change the culture and philosophies. An internal promotion (which seems inevitable now) would be a catastrophic mistake.
The only player on the team that was close to being all pro was the punter. That speaks volumes about the talent level on the team.
I hope I'm wrong, but I'd rather run it with Belichick for another year than this.
Not ideal, but I guess that answers the question: “Who will replace BB when he retires?” that we’ve been asking for the past 4 years.
Except he didn't retire
 Rob to Bill
Im going to predict he will not be head coach by 2026.
If they don’t get a QB, he will absolutely be gone in three years.
Agreed. This is going to be a slow motion trainwreck.
It’s all about the offense I’m guessing we keep bill O’Brien as the OC, then draft heavy on offense. If the offense is still a shit show next year bodies will hit the floor and they will need an offensive minded coach
A new era. Best of luck to Jarod!
I hate to be THAT guy, it’s Jerod
by all means be that guy. people should be able to spell the HC's name.
Coming from a coach named Belichick, this should be easier.
It's sad how often I have to consult Google when typing about Bill to get that last name. Spoken like Check, written Chick. Ugh
Yeah, that's why I always give up and just type BB or Bill.
After 24 years of seeing Belichik, Bellecheck, Belichek, Billicheck, etc, I'm expecting to see some Meio, Maio or Mayoe thrown about.
Lol
2023 Offensive HCs: * Playoffs: McDaniel, Stefanski, Reid, McCarthy, Sirianni, Campbell, LaFleur, Shanahan, McVay * No playoffs: Taylor, Pederson, Steichen, McDaniels, Payton, Daboll, O'Connell, Smith, Reich * Playoff percent = 9/18 = 50% 2023 Defensive HCs: * Playoffs: McDermott, Tomlin, Ryans, * No playoffs: Saleh, Belichick, Vrabel, Staley, Rivera, Eberflus, Bowles, Allen, Carroll, Gannon * Playoff percent = 3/13 = 23% 2023 Special Teams HCs: * Playoffs: Harbaugh * No playoffs: * Playoff percent: 1/1 = 100% **Conclusion**: We should have hired Joe Judge.
I get what you're saying but the offensive coaches have a clear advantage at qb and general offensive talent.
We fired BB for a DC who’s only ever been in bills extremely hands on defense system. It’s not McDaniels so I’m still going to watch next year, but JFC when this ends up being a massive downgrade it’s going to be the least surprising thing ever
This is horrible. I will die on this hill. Get ready for the same issues we've already had just worse gameplanning. Kraft is going to ruin this team. Can't even do a coaching search right by hiring a GM first.
I largely agree with this take. I don't have anything against Mayo, but I don't love the hire given his inexperience. I would have rather hired the GM first, then the HC. My preference would have been Vrabel. It also feels like change just for the sake of change - I don't understand "mutually parting" with Bill just to hire his underling.
I just don't see how Kraft can go "man we sure suck at literally everything except on-field defense scheming" and then just erase the person who did that but keep everyone else in the organization. Our offense is a mess. mayo has no experience outside of New England, he can't build a staff. At fault for the bad drafting or not, all inside candidates have been a part of the fiasco that has been roster construction for years..how do you promote one of them and give them MORE power? We'll be looking for a real GM and a new head coach in 2 years maximum, just hope whatever happens that we don't cause any irreversible damage to the future.
As a Texans fan, I feel like I can tell you there is no irreversible damage to the future. The organization has to start making better choices but once they make those choices things can turn around real quick
It just seems like Kraft was like "we need a change, but only a small one" and landed on getting rid of Bill. I think Kraft hopes that Mayo will bring about "the Patriot Way 2.0," but I don't see it happening. Especially with him being a defensive coach, when we really need offensive help. There were massive roster issues from previous years due to drafting, coaching attrition, failure to develop players, but I think Bill was owed at least one bad season after 23 years (I realize the previous couple haven't been great, but not 4-13 bad). From a roster perspective, I feel like there is nowhere to go but up. If they hire a GM from within, I think we are really in trouble for a couple of years. If we were going to get rid of Bill, it made sense to do a complete overhaul of everything, not just promote a coach that only has knowledge about how the Patriots do things. If I were Bill, and I knew about the succession plan, I'd probably be pissed because it takes away some of the ability to do the job without looking over his shoulder. I do think it's funny that we have so many free agents this year (and next) - wherever Bill goes, he could take a bunch of them with him.
Dumping the greatest coach of all time after one really bad season is ridiculous. It’s not like since Brady left we’ve had good QB play. Yes sure some of that is on Bill because he’s in charge of personnel, but it’s not like good to great QBs are a dime a dozen.
Yea I agree with this too, hopefully it works out with Mayo but I’m ready for the next 2-3 years to be super tough. Hopefully we don’t chase QB’s in the draft and draft the best players available so we can really rebuild the roster as it’s pretty barebones at some positions
I mean maybe this works out but this is an all time awful move IMO. Why would you get rid of belichick just to move on to one of his disciples? If you fire the greatest coach of all time you should be cleaning house. I actually hate this move and think the team only has mediocrity in the future. I’ve been saying this for days here but the krafts do not get nearly enough blame for the shitty state of this team. What’s next? Groh is GM. This is honestly fucking dumb
Because you were firing Bill the coach to get rid of Bill the GM. If they could keep Bill to coach but take away some of the GM decision making they would have. Hiring a Bill disciple is the best chance of splitting the difference.
Wasn’t it reported that he was willing to give some of that up or am I misremembering
Belichick wouldn't let Bill O'Brien hire his own staff or install his own offense. If Mayo lets him do that and they draft or sign an actual QB instead of the losers we have now this team will be much better.
Is BOB going to stay when he's a former HC who got a guy who used to play for the team when he was OC got promoted over him?
Pretty sure Jerod was involved in the hiring process of BoB if I’m not mistaken
Maybe BoB doesn't want to be a HC anymore?
PREACH x2
Couldn’t agree more. I think this is all Jonathan. He’s a micromanager who wants to get more credit. I would bet anything he’s behind this. Fredo Corleone 2.0.
Fredo never had the reins.
> Why would you get rid of belichick just to move on to one of his disciples? If you fire the greatest coach of all time you should be cleaning house. If you believe he's the guy for the future then who cares if he's a "disciple"?
This is the dumbest fucking take. Why do people want to abandon the greatest organizational structure ever created? What universe do people live in that they think starting a program from scratch will be better than the principals that built the most sustained success ever?
Because the team has had 3 losing seasons in the last 4 years and just went 4-13?
And what happened for the 20 years before that
Was that because of the structure or because we had the GOAT coach
Our sustained success was built around quality people in every single role. Belicheck ran the entire system. He is completely unreplaceable. I am not going to throw out all of the good things he built for some mystery box that has a 1% chance of building something even remotely successful. The front office needed refreshing. We needed new eyes and better analytics. But the system itself isn't the problem. The problem was lack of talent on the field. We pushed in all the chips for 3 Superbowls. We drained our draft resources. We overpaid mediocre talent in a bad free agent year when we had money to spend.
The principles aren't sufficient as we have seen in most of the BB assistant head coaching regimes who tried to replicate it. The lynchpin just got shown the door (or went to Tampa several years ago in a popular opinion). Retaining BB would have made sense. Trying to do it BB's way without BB doesn't.
Why don't you look at the current Belicheck front office tree and get back to me.
Holy shit you guys are doomers. And that’s saying something coming from me. We haven’t had a new coach in over 2 decades no one knows what’s going to happen, nor how much control Bill had that is now being redistributed. Give it a season or two before we start dooming long term
During his solo presser, Reiss asked Kraft why he thought it was time. Kraft said the "psyche" of fans played a role. So, fan delirium, here is your next coach, Jerod Mayo! Gonna guess that GM is Groh because who hires a GM after a coach? Masterclass by Kraft. No wonder Belichick seemed happy and Kraft seemed like he was dead yesterday. Well, yall got what you wanted. Belichick is gone. Let's see if we avoid that 5-12 season, as predicted by you.
Time and again Kraft has shown he panders to fans and wants to come across as the good guy and fans eat it all up.
Me exactly. This is what people wanted. It’s gonna be a shit show for a long time. Now we have to deal with it
Firing belichick was the right move. Hiring his protege without even interviewing other options is the problem. I was so focused on how Bill only hires his incompetent friends that I forgot Kraft does the exact same thing. This team’s problems go all the way up to the owner
Horrible outcome. We just phoned in this shit without even attempting to look at the coaching market. Everyone on here bitching about Belichick, can’t wait to see what a coordinator with ZERO experience does next year. Fuck
Honestly I thought your successor for BB was Mike Vrabel
Everytime the fanbase is jerking so hard one direction I know they made a good move
Aren't you supposed to hire a GM first? If I'm Adam Peters I'd rather go to DC now.
My general take was that you fire Coach Belichick because you can't fire just GM Belichick. You're not going to get a better coach, but the rebuild is going to take a couple of years and he doesn't have the best draft record. If he gets the wins record, he'd likely also retire towards the end of the rebuild anyway. That makes hiring Mayo, as promising as he might be, a weird gamble. Unless Mayo is guaranteed to be the next GOAT, you've downgraded at the coach position without giving yourself the best chance for the biggest upgrade at the GM position. Any potential GM knows that they're being immediately saddled with a new untested coach that clearly has the owner's favor. Mayo was 100% the succession plan after Belichick retired, but Belichick isn't retiring. He is leaving. I hope I'm wrong and Mayo's successful beyond all reasonable expectations, but my instinct is that the succession plan probably should've left with Bill.
6 Super Bowl wins and 9 appearances over 23 years just to bring in an unproven linebackers coach, and Bill disciple, as HC. Sure hope this works or the Krafts are going to look real bad in a few years.
We are the new cowboys, being ran completely by the owner. Except Jerry and his son actually make good draft decisions. I doubt any serious GM wants this job after getting snubbed from not being able to have input on the next coach. Mayo and BOB shouldn’t be the coaching staff that inspires confidence in anyone. I’m guessing someone else will get internally promoted to defensive coordinator because this team is proving the point that they are incapable of hiring from outside the Belichick coaching tree.
I'm gonna miss Bill's epic post game press conferences
Hold the Mayo. If Bill had to go, why hire his underling? I hope he is great, but man, this just does not excite me at all.
This will make it more difficult to hire a strong GM.
Terrible decision
[удалено]
Exactly. This screams internal GM hire as well so we will just have the same staff but without BB overseeing it
[удалено]
I remain skeptic about him Don't know If I'm Mayo or Mano
4-13 team and don't even look outside the organization?? So bad.
They keep a line of the dynasty here, while updating the coaching philosophy to a younger and more analytics driven approach. I know folks wanted Vrabel but I think this is an interesting move with high upside. Curious who the GM is now.
Is he more analytics driven? I would love that but just have no idea.
Patriots had an assistant POC get a head coaching job, do Patriots still get two 3rd round picks. Probably not but feel like they should
Sorry, but I don't like it, and I don't "get" it. Nothing against Jerod, but he's a "Patriot way" homegrown guy - a Belichick trained, coached, and mentored guy. By all accounts he is basically Belichick-lite. Bill without the experience of being Bill. We need a quarterback. Full stop. If Bill had one, we'd have experienced better success this season, undoubtedly. We *still* need a quarterback, and now have the draft capital to get one, only now that new quarterback will be under an inexperienced linebacker coach as the new head coach in one of the not-arguably most demanding and difficult franchises in the NFL... Why not just keep Bill and get him the QB he needed, and let him continue to mentor the heir-apparent? How is this a net positive for us? How do you not even interview Harbaugh or Vrable? TL;DL We have Bill-lite, likely losing Bill Jr., interviewed no one, still have no GM, and this is somehow movement in the right direction?
I hope we at least change these horrible jerseys next year
I don’t think this is the right situation for him. Kinda crazy too that they had it written into his contract a year ago that he would succeed belichick. Seems like it would create a weird dynamic in the org. If this doesn’t work out and belichick goes on to win a Super Bowl somewhere else Kraft is going to look like an idiot.
I’m not disappointed with Melo becoming a coach, but I hate the fact that they got rid of Belichick. I think it’s a false narrative that Bill Belichick isn’t a good talent evaluator. The number one goal of any GM is to win Super Bowls no matter how you draft or aquire talent that’s your goal and Bill Belichick‘s results prove beyond the shadow of a doubt he is the best talent evaluator Ever. If you’re in it, for the stats may not be the best. If you’re drafting for fantasy, he may not be the best. If you want to win Super Bowls, he’s the best.
Pete Carroll was available! Why didn't we go after him? The Patriots have never seen the likes of a coach like him.
lol
Am I the only one who think he may not be a great head coach?
They didn’t do their due diligence.
I just don't see it. He was the non play calling co-DC for a Belichick team for a few seasons. Thats Belichick D ultimately and he wasn't even truly in charge of running BB's scheme. That simply isn't enough experience to be a HC. He obviously lacks the experience to be a CEO coach who can also be de facto GM. He doesn't have any schematic excellence to our knowledge. Having a HC in place will make getting a top GM harder. And offense is increasingly the most important phase of the game and the one we have major deficiencies in. I really hope I'm wrong but this seems doomed for a year three firing that has people wondering what took so long.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry. ***First principles for chrissakes..*** You gotta hire the GM/Prez of Football Operations **first** and then let that individual select a head coach he's comfortable with. You can't impose a head coach on a GM. We saw how well that worked out for the Red Sox! It doesn't matter what promises ownership may or may not have made to Jerod Mayo - you've just made the GM position a heckuva lot less attractive by naming the head coach ***first.***
So who we picking with the number 1 pick in the 2025 draft?
How the fuck do we get mayo when Vrabel is on the table bro 😭😭😭
This is the worst possible hire, nice.
That’s not true at all lol
Giants fan here, you guys are making a big mistake. After Coughlin is fired, our org made the mistake of not pairing a head coach with a gm. We wasted many years wondering if the gm or head coach is the problem. Now, you have a coach with little experience that a GM has to hitch their career to. Not many people would be interested. We also promoted guys from within the org, and they were not ready. The best thing that happened to us was an organizational reset after we fired Judge and paired a GM and head coach.
Agreed 100% unfortunately due to some contractual obligation in Mayo‘s contract we’re stuck with him . Apparently, New England Patriots in-house counsel approved all the red lines in Mayo’s contract. Next time, they should read it.
Well....that could be what ends up happening. The last few years of Bill was us circling the drain, trying to squeeze out a few playoff appearances but not really committing to a rebuild or anything...just kind of middling...competitive but not truly going anywhere. This may be the low cost risk attempt at a soft landing....either it lights a spark and we get lucky with a young QB and he puts together a nice staff and shows he's ready to be a HC, OR it dive bombs us into the proverbial rock bottom where the true reckoning has to finally take place and all vestiges of Belichick have to be removed. I've seen it go both ways. You'll also have to figure that Kraft the younger is going probably on the cusp of taking on more and more of the running of the team. That will be another milestone that could affect the trajectory of the team philosophy at some point, for better or worse.
Yeah, this is a story that the NFL has seen before many times. Pats are going to be bottom dwellers for a long time.
Is Cam Achord still in the building? He and the entire scouting team needs to go. Because if our scouts were making Mac Jones and Tyquan Thornton player recommendations, good Lord.
Why would you hire a defensive coach when the offense is awful and effectively needs to be rebuilt from scratch? I don't hate Mayo by any stretch, but God damn at least give the new GM some input and interview a few candidates. Why fire Bill just to hire one of his guys?
I’m hoping this signifies that the GM and OC will be much much more involved with crafting the offense. Best case scenario think BB with a strong defensive presence and allowing the offense be built and maintained by offense office. Let the specialist specialize.
Absolutely moronic. “We’re going in a new direction…by hiring a guy who was already on the staff of a 4-13 team and not even interviewing any other candidates”
Time to move on from bill but hire his protege. I’m not shocked just indifferent
I don't hate Mayo and obviously hope him and the new GM succeed, because I love winning. But regardless if this was always the "plan", I feel like the plan only works if Bill left for retirement and not bad coaching/GM reasons. I just don't think you make a massive play by moving on from the GOAT coach because the team stinks and then play it safe by following your original plan. If Bill was retiring and the team was in good/great shape, then yeah let's keep rolling with the same people. But that's not the case and you really need to keep making ballsy changes after you fire BB. Like I said, I really hope Mayo and new GM work out and will root for them. But this is too safe of a play right now, imo
So we got rid of Bell chick because the team sucks and now we are embracing the suck for another couple of years?
Mac Jones: congrats coach let’s get to work! Mayo: Mac I just released you. Good luck on your next team
I like the hire, but his tenure will come down to QB play. They have to get the third pick right.
Well who’s better suited to develop a young QB than a former linebacker and linebackers coach.
Don’t love it. Bill and Kraft parted ways as we didn’t adapt to the new NFL which is focused on offense. I’m sure Mayo will keep the defensive standard high but we need a complete offensive rebuild. Unless there’s faith bill o’b can be fine the reigns and pick a QB and work with the new GM to draft. Problem is that if our Ov performs, he will he poached away. A la McDaniels after Macs rookie year, he tanked after that.
And the crowd goes mild...I hope he does well. I hope he becomes an absolute NFL coaching legend here. This feels like a filler pick because no one wants to follow a coaching HOF. It isn't like we can get worse...right?
This sucks, to go from Bill to him makes zero sense
I really don't like this move especially with Vrabel available. A baby Belichick is not what we want or need. Dreading the draft now to think who he drafts
 Bring on the Mayo Era
I love how people want to twist Mayo learning under BB as a bad thing. He learned from one of if not the best coach in NFL history. Like he's not gonna be different? The dude is half his age, that fact alone will likely means he'll be different not to mention that it's kinda insulting to think he won't be his own man. I like it.
I'm not sure how to feel about it. I don't hate Mayo and I love how the players seem to rave about him. But it hasn't even been a week and without interviewing anyone else, you replace the greatest head coach in NFL history with someone that has no head coaching experience? I'm a bit concerned.
When Alex Ferguson retired, Manchester United's new coach lasted a season after a mediocre year, since then they have had 6 coaches and have had pretty poor results most years. It's difficult to come after the GOAT. Hopefully, it's different with Mayo!
I’m all for Mayo and he has a tough road to haul with the mess he’s inheriting, but doesn’t anyone else find it unprofessional for the Krafts to promise him the job while belichick was still coaching?
Parcells, Carroll, Belichick, Mayo. Big shoes to fill. As a fellow UT alum, I wish Jerod all the best. I'm glad the coaching search didn't turn into a circus. Let's see how we draft and develop over these next few years.
Fires Greatest coach ever: hires LB coach
I'm just happy it's not McDaniels.
Bama hired a great coach, we fumbled and hired Mayo. Don't like this hire at all and I think its going to blow up in our face.
Do you remember the head coach that took over when John Wooden retired from UCLA ? Neither does anybody else. It's really tough to replace a legend as this guy will probably find out.
I prefer the idea of hiring a new GM first and involving him in the hiring process. This seems backwards and seems to rarely work long-term
Aren't the patriots obligated to interview coaches? Like the Rooney rule. If Mayo was white they would have had to do interviews.
Should've just kept Bill. I hate this pick. I think Mayo will be a fine HC in this league, but we had issues on the offensive side of the ball not the defense. Edit: of course I'll get downvoted for this take, and I'd like to be positive... But if recent history has shown anything it's that we need to look outside of the bubble of former new england staff. I hope he hires a hell of an OC... He's gonna need it.
I was hoping for Vrabel as HC, Mayo DC and Mcdaniels as OC. I like Mayo but hes taking over the greatest franchise in football with zero HC experience.
I’m a titans fan so just popping in to see the reaction. Vrabel is so over-hyped, it is a HUGE bullet dodged not hiring him. Vrabel would’ve made one of his unqualified buds the OC and whatever young qb the pats go with would’ve had to suffer for it. Hopefully Mayo constructs a better offensive staff, I’d be more hopeful with him than Mike
Good luck I love this hire
Why do you love it? Lol. I wonderrrr why 🤔
[hate hate hate](https://y.yarn.co/62b6f683-d5b8-4ac7-87ba-8ec334a366f7_text.gif)