FOXBORO, Mass. — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft on Monday took accountability for his team’s shortcomings in 2024, telling the media that he put head coach Jerod Mayo in an “untenable situation” that resulted in an abysmal 4-13 record.
“I’m going to be very brief here and say, this whole situation is on me,” Kraft said during a news conference at Gillette Stadium, less than 24 hours after firing Mayo. “I feel terrible for Jerod because I put him in an untenable situation.”
Kraft said Mayo “has all the tools” to be successful in the NFL, but he admitted that the first-year coach “needed more time before taking the job.”
“I felt guilty that I put him in that position, but we’re moving on,” Kraft said.
The Patriots fired Mayo after Sunday’s season-ending victory over the Buffalo Bills, which caused the team to lose their number one pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt was also fired.
Kraft said he felt the high point of the season was his team’s win over the high-powered Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1, but disappointment started to set in midseason when the Patriots started to “regress.”
“I don’t like losing. I don’t like losing the way we lost,” Kraft explained of his decision to move on from Mayo, who was unaware he would be dismissed when he took the field to lead the Patriots against the Bills. “Things were not developing the way we would have liked. It was time to move on.”
Kraft said informing Mayo of the news “was one of the most difficult” things that he’s had to do in his life.
“It was no easy. He was a gentleman and he accepted it that way,” Kraft said.
Kraft confirmed that top personnel executives Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith will be retained and involved in the team’s search for a new head coach.
“We’re going to try to help us understand who can help us get back to the playoffs,” Kraft said. “We want to interview as many people as we can that can help us get to that position we want to be in...I don’t want to go through this next year and we’re going to do what we have to do to fix it.”
Names are already being tossed around as the team’s next potential head coach including Mayo’s former teammate, Mike Vrabel, and Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Kraft declined to comment when asked if Vrabel was a top candidate to replace Mayo, noting that he hopes to see a “big improvement” in 2025.
Mayo was named head coach of the Patriots in January 2024 after the team parted ways with longtime coach Bill Belichick.
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