The New England Patriots fired head coach Jerod Mayo on Sunday, the team announced. The Patriots finished 3-14 in his lone season in charge.
Mayo was the Patriots’ inside linebackers coach from 2019 to 2023. He was promoted to the head job last January, succeeding six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick.
“For me, personally, this was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made,” New England owner Robert Kraft said in a statement.
He later added: “Unfortunately, the trajectory of our team’s performances throughout the season did not ascend as I had hoped.”
The Patriots started the season with an upset win over the Cincinnati Bengals but then lost 13 of their next 15 games. New England won its season finale against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, but the win was costly, dropping the Patriots from the first pick in the upcoming NFL draft to fourth.
Mayo made waves earlier in the season when, after the team’s sixth straight loss, he labeled his roster as “soft.”
“We’re a soft football team across the board,” Mayo said in October. “We talk about what makes a tough football team, and that’s being able to run the ball, being able to stop the run, and that’s being able to cover kicks. We did none of those.”
Mayo was also criticized for waiting until Week 6 to start rookie quarterback Drake Maye. Jacoby Brissett, who started the first five weeks of the season, threw only two touchdown passes in eight total games.
New England struggled on both sides of the ball under Mayo. The Patriots averaged the third-fewest yards per game on offense entering Week 18 and surrendered the ninth-most defensively.
"We have tremendous fans who expect and deserve a better product than we have delivered in recent years. I apologize for that,” Kraft said in his statement. "I have given much thought and consideration as to what actions I can take to expedite our return to championship contention and determined this move was the best option at this time.”