Bill Belichick Weighs In On Patriots’ Decision To Fire Jerod Mayo

Former Patriots HC Bill Belichick has been asked several times about his former team this year and that hasn’t stopped even though he’s the current head coach at North Carolina.

On the Let’s Go podcast with Jim Gray, Belichick was asked again about owner Robert Kraft‘s decision to fire his hand-picked successor, Jerod Mayo, just a year after Kraft pushed out Belichick. 

“You know, that’s his choice,” Belichick said. “People that own the team have the choice to do whatever they wanna do. The other people that were in place. . . it’s also the rest of the organization, it’s not just the head coach. So, you know, {EVP of football business and senior adviser to head coach] Robyn Glaser, [Kraft Group president] Jonathan Kraft, whoever the other people are that are involved in those decisions and the structure of the organization. But you need that shared vision between ownership and coaching and scouting. And that’s when you can be successful.”

Belichick went on to add he felt like he had that shared vision up until the end of his time with the Patriots, and that’s why he was let go after so many years and so much success. 

“I had that up until about the last four years in New England. And when you have that shared vision and everybody pulling in the same direction, you have a chance and you can get a lot done. And even if you don’t win at all, you’re still really competitive,” he said. “…But when you’re going in different directions, then that makes it really hard to keep up with everybody else. I think you look at the organizations and you can kind of see the ones that are and the ones that aren’t.

“But look, it’s no surprise. There’s so many coaches now that are being released after a year, year and a half, or two years in place, and you just don’t see the Tom Landry situations anymore. That’s just not like that in the NFL or honestly in the other professional sports. And I think when you don’t have any continuity, it’s really hard to build.”

Belichick, 72, got his start coaching in the NFL in 1975 with the then-Baltimore Colts. He had assistant jobs with the Lions and Broncos before landing with the Giants, where he eventually rose to defensive coordinator under legendary HC Bill Parcells. 

The Browns hired Belichick as head coach in 1991 and he was in the post for five years before being fired. He rejoined Parcells as an assistant with the Patriots and left to go with him to the Jets the following year.

He was slated to replace Parcells as head coach of the Jets in 2000 but infamously resigned and was hired by the Patriots, who had to give up a first-round pick to the Jets as compensation. Belichick won six Super Bowls in 24 years in New England before being let go at the end of the 2023 season. 

For his career, Belichick has a record of 302-163 over 29 seasons (.655 W/L percentage) and has eight Super Bowl rings, six of them as head coach of the Patriots. He’s a three-time winner of the AP Coach of the Year award. 

Mayo, 38, was drafted in the first round by the Patriots out of Tennessee in 2008. He played eight seasons with the team before retiring following the 2015 season. 

Mayo joined the Patriots coaching staff as an inside linebackers coach in 2019 and held the position for five years before being named the head coach to replace Bill Belichick in 2024. 

In his one season as Patriots’ head coach, Mayo posted a record of 4-13.