The New England Patriots' first season in the post-Bill Belichick era did not go as the team had hoped. That led owner Robert Kraft to make some drastic decisions about the direction of the franchise.
Rookie head coach Jerod Mayo was fired less than a year after being named the team's successor to Bill Belichick. Former Patriots player and Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel was hired to replace him and turn around a team that went 4-13 while sporting one of the NFL's least productive rosters around rookie quarterback Drake Maye.