The Patriots are all-in on Jerod Mayo. Is he set up to succeed?

The Patriots are all-in on Jerod Mayo. Is he set up to succeed? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Nobody envisioned 4-13. Nobody envisioned an offense that would fail to score a single touchdown in six of 17 games.

When the Krafts gave Jerod Mayo and Bill Belichick contracts last offseason that were timed to expire after next year, that was when the succession plan was designed to kick in.

But 4-13 happened. Now, ownership will stick to its commitment to have the 37-year-old Mayo take over a team that’s in worse shape than anyone imagined it would be.

We always presumed there was a hard floor for a Bill Belichick-coached team. Their average was superior, their below average was still good. A 7-9 season in 2020 with Cam Newton in for Tom Brady was proof. So was going 8-9 in 2022 with an offense coordinated by a defensive coordinator.

The ineptitude in 2023 was wholly unexpected. Which meant Robert Kraft was kind of forced to stop saber-rattling and follow through on the ultimatums he’d been very directly issuing to Belichick.

Which, of course, meant the contractually agreed-upon pivot to Mayo. The contract language allowing Mayo to be named immediate successor no doubt led to the Patriots being unmoved by the news earlier this week that Mike Vrabel was available.

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Would they have been interested in at least sitting with Vrabel if they weren’t contractually bound? Given they went 4-13, would they have wanted to interview more experienced candidates rather than have a first-time head coach getting the reins to replace a legend and author a rebuild?

The bottom line is, the Krafts didn’t want to lose Mayo. He’s resisted taking coaching titles for one simple reason: He didn’t want to be blocked from advancing if other opportunities arose.

His coaching star was rising and — since a coach is blocked from going to a new opportunity if it’s a lateral…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/patriots-jerod-mayo-set-succeed-155431695.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-01-12 15:54:31

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