Speaking on Monday after making the call to fire Jerod Mayo after one season as Patriots head coach, team owner Robert Kraft bemoaned his decision to elevate the 38-year-old to a position that he wasn’t quite ready for.
“I feel terrible for Jerod because I put him in an untenable situation,” Kraft said. “I know that he has all the tools as a head coach to be successful in this league. He just needed more time before taking the job.”
Some of the growing pains that Mayo went through during his lone year leading the Patriots were put on full display in 2024 — be it his mixed messaging and ill-advised comments to the media, lapses in late-game and fourth-down situations, and more.