When the Patriots named Jerod Mayo as their head coach shortly after parting ways with Bill Belichick last January, all indications were that the partnership was for the long haul.

But after a disappointing 4-13 season that matched the win total of last season, that partnership has been cut short. Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced shortly after the season finale on Sunday that Mayo has been fired after just his first season as a head coach.

Speaking to the press on Monday, Kraft took responsibility for how things had gone down.

“This whole situation is on me. I feel terrible for Jerod because I put him in an untenable situation,” Kraft said in Foxborough.

But he also said he felt that the team had regressed.

“I don’t like losing. I don’t like losing the way we lost,” Kraft said. “I just ... just, things were not developing the way we would have liked and it was time to move on.”

Mayo, who was a two-time Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion as a player with New England, was essentially lined up to be Belichick’s successor.

But after a bit of an upset win against the Cincinnati Bengals on the road to open the regular season, a whole lot went wrong for the Mayo and the Pats. They followed their Week 1 victory with six straight losses, were on another six-game losing streak as the season wound down before picking up a 23-16 win over the Buffalo Bills at home on Sunday and ended the season with the fewest passing yards in the NFL — despite the emergence of Drake Maye as the possible quarterback of the future in Foxborough.

Mayo had little to say when asked about whether he felt he should be back as head coach following the team’s win over the Bills on Sunday.

“For me, it’s all about just this game, to go back to the start,” Mayo said. “It’s all about this game. And we’ll talk about that tomorrow.”

For Mayo, though, tomorrow didn’t come.

Mayo created a minor controversy when he called the team “soft” after the Pats lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars 32-16 in London in October. And while that storm would eventually die down, the numbers made clear that this was a team that simply had a hard time winning.

His firing comes after many fans — and prominent columnists like the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnassy — called for him to lose his job as the difficult season progressed. By making the move to fire Mayo, New England will now look for the 16th head coach in franchise history.

“For me, personally, this was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made,” Kraft wrote in a statement Sunday.

“I still believe he will be a successful head coach in this league,” Kraft later added. “I wish Jerod and his family nothing but success in the future.”

In his statement, Kraft noted how long he has known Mayo and his leadership skills as both a player and coach.

“When other teams started requesting to interview him, I feared I would lose him and committed to making him our next head coach,” Kraft wrote.

But he also apologized to fans, saying that they expect and deserve a better product than the team has delivered in recent years.

“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,” Kraft added.

He told the press Monday that, now, he wants to interview as many people as the team can that they think can help them get to the position they want to be in.

How long it actually takes to get back to those winning ways, though, is anyone’s guess.

Updated: January 05, 2025
This story was updated with additional comments from Robert Kraft Monday and his statement Sunday.