Bill Belichick has started recruiting.
The former Patriots coach and new North Carolina football coach declined to comment Sunday on his former team's firing of Jerod Mayo as head coach after just one season.
“I don't really comment on the Patriots situation, to be honest with you,” Belichick said on “The Pat McAfee Show” Monday while in his car on a welcome trip. “Robert Kraft, Jonathan Kraft, Robin Glaser, they're the decision-makers there. … Mayo was hand-picked by Robert, but ultimately they had to comment on the decisions.” It will be.
“You really don't know from the outside looking in. They haven't called me and asked me, so I don't know.”
The Patriots selected Mayo to replace Belichick, who led the team for 24 seasons, including six Super Bowl championships and nine Super Bowl appearances.
Mayo played and worked for Belichick in New England for more than a decade.
After being selected in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft, he played in New England from 2008 to 2015, winning the Super Bowl during the 2014 season.
Mayo joined Belichick in 2019 and coached the linebackers through the 2023 season before being promoted to head coach.
His only season patrolling the sidelines that Belichick once navigated didn't go well. The Patriots had a record of 4 wins and 13 losses, but lost multiple times.
Mr. Mayo also glossed over several questionable media gaffes.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft on Monday took responsibility for the partnership's failure.
“This situation is entirely my fault,” Kraft said. “I feel terrible for Jerod because we put him in an untenable situation. I know he has all the tools to be successful in this league as a head coach, but I think he needs a little more time before he takes over.” I just needed it. At the end of the day, I'm a fan of this team first and now I have to go find a coach who can get us back to the playoffs and hopefully the championship.”
Former teammate Rob Gronkowski called the firing “unfair.”
“I was shocked by that,” Gronkowski said on a Fox studio show. “It was shocking to a lot of people, especially at this desk, that it was going to happen so soon. We were all surprised by that. I think it was unfair to coach Jerrod Mayo. I mean. , he has the opportunity to grow as a head coach. He wasn't. He was a rookie in the department himself. You don't really judge a coach by his first year. Jimmie Johnson, you went 1-15 in your first year. Then we won some Super Bowls.”
The Patriots are looking for their next coach, which could be a former player like Mike Vrabel, as Belichick prepares for his first season coaching at the college level.
