‘This is on me’: Robert Kraft took responsibility for Patriots’ failure in 2024, Jerod Mayo’s firing
"I feel terrible for Jerod, because I put him in an untenable situation."
A day after cutting ties with the second Patriots head coach in as many years, team chairman and CEO Robert Kraft stepped up to the podium to address the media regarding the shambolic current state of the team.
He began with the obvious: The news following Sunday’s regular season finale win over the Bills that first-year head coach Jerod Mayo had been fired.
“I’m going to be very brief here,” Kraft began, “and say this whole situation is on me. I feel terrible for Jerod, because I put him in an untenable situation. 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. In the end, I’m a fan of this team first, and now I have to go out and find a coach who can get us back to the playoffs and hopefully championships.”
After that, he opened the floor for questions from reporters.
Regarding the timing of when he decided to fire Mayo after a second consecutive 4-13 season, Kraft said he went “back and forth over the last month” before ultimately opting for a change.
“It was very hard because the personal relationship,” said Kraft. “I feel for Jerod, and the human being he is. I felt guilty I put him in that position, but we’re moving on.”
Asked how Mayo received the news, Kraft — who also said that the ex-coach did not know he would be removed until after the game — said he handled it with class.
“Look, it was one of the more difficult things I’ve had to do in my life because I have such affection for him,” he reiterated. “And I believe in [Mayo], and I really do believe he will go on and as he gets more experience, he’ll be successful.”
“It was not easy. He was a gentleman, and accepted it that way.”
Regarding a follow-up question from Boston Globe reporter Nicole Yang about what specifically made Mayo’s position untenable, Kraft stuck to a general answer.
“I don’t like losing. I don’t like losing the way we lost, and things were not developing the way we would’ve liked and it was time to move on,” he said. In general terms, Kraft alluded to his Patriots fandom as the largest reason for making such a sweeping change after just one year.
“I’m the biggest fan, so I understand,” Kraft explained of the team’s current position. “Since the day we bought this team and I realized what a privilege it was and how lucky we were as a family that this is the only business we’re involved where I see ourselves — we don’t own this team, it’s owned by the fans of this region. We’re custodians of a very special asset of the community. That helps me try to make decisions that, if it was just personal, it would be different.”
One of the major lingering questions revolves around the front office. Current executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf (who has been acting as de facto GM) will remain for the time being. The next coach, Kraft noted, will have full say in picking his assistants.
“We are looking for people working together, and they will be staying on,” he said of Wolf and player personnel director Matt Groh. Asked why the front office team was given a pass when Mayo was not, Kraft offered a plea for patience.
“I think that the department evolved a lot, and a lot of things were changed. We changed our grading system this year,” he pointed out. “Our drafts have not been good for a while, and if you want to compete and be good long-term in this league, you’ve got to have good drafts because those rookie contracts allow you to go out and get the people you need.
“Looks like we lucked out, we maybe have two quarterbacks,” Kraft quipped of Drake Maye and Joe Milton III, “but I think we’ll hopefully see a big improvement this year.”
Wolf will also play a part in helping to select Mayo’s successor, along with senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith.
“We want to interview as many people as we can that we think can help us get to that position that we want to be in, so we have put out requests and [team VP of media relations] Stacey [James] will be filling you in on that.”
New England could be seen by the right coaching candidate as a massive opportunity with vast potential, with Maye (a young and talented quarterback of the future) along with a top draft pick (fourth overall in 2025) as well as $130 million salary cap space.
In terms of spending to support the new coach — something that perhaps was not done to the greatest extent for Mayo — Kraft promised the team would do whatever it took in terms of financial commitment.
“We want to win. That’s our priority first.”
In the end, Kraft said that the decision to dismiss the man he personally picked to be Bill Belichick’s successor was motivated fundamentally by a desire to avoid having to revisit difficult January press conferences in the future.
“From my point of view, we had a rough year last year,” he bluntly acknowledged. “Going through two years like that, and then seeing where we were this year and especially the second half of the year just made me feel we weren’t going in the right direction. I don’t want to go through this next year, and we’re going to do what we have to do to fix it.”
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