Hold the Mayo? Evaluating Patriots coaching.

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Cellar-Door

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I can't see Mayo getting fired unless there were an off-field or legal issue that was discovered.
 

8slim

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I can't see Mayo getting fired unless there were an off-field or legal issue that was discovered.
Agree. This is what RKK signed up for. He hired a guy who really has little business being an NFL head coach. Mayo is in the early stages of an enormous learning curve across every aspect of head coaching. If Kraft thought he'd jump in and flourish then he's a fool.
 

Caspir

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Maybe the coach from Foxborough High is available. Otherwise it sounds like bs.
 

Ralphwiggum

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What the fuck does it mean to say he'll be fired "within the next 48 hrs"? They already made the decision but have decided not to tell him now, but will tell him sometime in the next 48 hrs, but they haven't decided exactly when? It's ludicrous reporting.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are serious conversations happening about whether Mayo can coach or not, hell I'd be more surprised if those conversations weren't happening at this point. But Minehane's report is fucking stupid and I feel stupid writing a post about it.
 

Ed Hillel

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I think the report is BS, but Kirk is good friends with Jonathan. If it’s phony, he’s probably going to get an earful.
 

FL4WL3SS

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Nevermind that Kraft would have to openly admit his mistake this early after going on a BB bashing campaign.

No chance this happens, they will ride out a 1-16 season and then fire Mayo at the end. Firing right now accomplishes nothing, they aren't making the playoffs.
 

DJnVa

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Now Boutte is openly questioning the play calling. We can't go a single day without this mess, man.

View: https://twitter.com/tkyles39/status/1849123786701890034
Okay, I think this is being spun a bit. The first TD pass, he did say they talked to the coaches, but that's because he said both he and Maye saw the coverage Houston was playing and said they think they can beat it over the top. The call was made, and they did.

That does not scream dysfunction in any way.



On top of Boutte, you have this. Please just fire Mayo, let’s get this over with:
View: https://twitter.com/mikegiardi/status/1849133771414483373?s=42
So next KJ should post the pic of the sports car in the shitty garage, get his wish, get cut, go somewhere else and drop a TD pass.
 

Cotillion

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Like, after those 10 seconds, did he mention who these "sources" are? Why Mayo would be fired 7 games into his tenure?
Only way he gets canned that short into his run is that the Krafts have lost all perspective and we are in a super long rough road.
 

cshea

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Hackett and Meyer were canned around week 15/16 in their first year. The Pats do have a late bye, week 14, so that's probably the earliest spot to consider it.
 

Marciano490

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There’s no way Kraft’s brain is even going there. You think he’s going to admit making that massive a mistake after all the buildup. I’m sure he thinks Mayo is the least of the franchise’s problem and it’s all due to Bill’s lingering screwups.
 

worm0082

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I could see the 48 hours thing meaning they are in contract negotiations with whoever they want to take over and aren’t firing Mayo until it’s officially signed. Just in case the deal falls through.
 

astrozombie

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What the fuck does it mean to say he'll be fired "within the next 48 hrs"? They already made the decision but have decided not to tell him now, but will tell him sometime in the next 48 hrs, but they haven't decided exactly when? It's ludicrous reporting.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are serious conversations happening about whether Mayo can coach or not, hell I'd be more surprised if those conversations weren't happening at this point. But Minehane's report is fucking stupid and I feel stupid writing a post about it.
But when did the 48 hour countdown start?! From the time Minihane heard it? At midnight last night? /sarcasm
I agree with you, this report is full of it, but at the same time... those conversations are being had. I have certainly been on Team Cut Mayo Some Slack, but the unforced errors (media and in-game) are increasingly exasperating and it seems like he is significantly losing the locker room. From Kraft's perspective, I imagine he sees Drake Maye looking competent out there and is now pissed that he wasn't the starter from Day 1. I could also see a change being made at the end of the season, even if I am not sure it is the right call.
Kraft certainly looked like a genius when he was letting BB run the show and cutting the checks for Brady, but now that they are gone this is looking like a bit more of a clown show than I was expecting.
 

FL4WL3SS

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The real problem is, which coach is going to want to come here after this shitshow? You openly trash the greatest HC of all time while kicking him out the door, then you hire an unproven guy on a hunch to mess things up further. Now I know how the Jets feel, this is a tragedy at this point. I don't see how you recover from this.
 

Salem's Lot

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The only way that Mayo would get fired in season is if he had some sort of legal situation. It would make absolutely no sense to fire him before the season is over otherwise.
 

DJnVa

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If there's been X number of posts about this, that's X number too many.
 

Salem's Lot

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The real problem is, which coach is going to want to come here after this shitshow? You openly trash the greatest HC of all time while kicking him out the door, then you hire an unproven guy on a hunch to mess things up further. Now I know how the Jets feel, this is a tragedy at this point. I don't see how you recover from this.
Money. Kraft is going to have to pay through the nose for a good coach.
 

E5 Yaz

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The real problem is, which coach is going to want to come here after this shitshow? You openly trash the greatest HC of all time while kicking him out the door, then you hire an unproven guy on a hunch to mess things up further. Now I know how the Jets feel, this is a tragedy at this point. I don't see how you recover from this.
There would be drumbeats for Vrabel, who is a "coaching and personnel consultant" for the Browns this season. He is likely to have options, though; so, unless Kraft turns over the keys completely, this likely won't be Vrabel's best opportunity.
 

worm0082

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It will never happen but if I’m Kraft I’m on my knees begging Bill to come back and giving him a blank check. Steinbrenner/Martin style.
 

cshea

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The real problem is, which coach is going to want to come here after this shitshow? You openly trash the greatest HC of all time while kicking him out the door, then you hire an unproven guy on a hunch to mess things up further. Now I know how the Jets feel, this is a tragedy at this point. I don't see how you recover from this.
I think they'd get plenty of candidates. They've got the most cap space in the league, a rookie 3rd overall pick QB who looks promising and likely another top 3-5 draft pick incoming. There can be a quick turnaround.

Kraft kept his nose out of football matters for the better part of 20 years when things were going good, which is probably a feature not a bug to potential candidates. I'm not sure why Mayo's hiring would have any impact on candidates. So he screwed that up, made a mistake, moved on. I guess the only downside is it could be interpreted as a quick trigger?
 

Bigdogx

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What a mess the Krafts have made here....

This is a shining example of what happens when you take shortcuts and the easiest pathway available.. Hired and promoted everyone from within except the Offensive coordinator, and really almost had to put an ad in the local paper to get someone who would take the job, knowing full well what a crap show this setup would be!

I guess we just won't be a competitive franchise again until the Krafts admit their mistake here which i doubt we will see anytime soon, i think even with a 1-16 season they will unfortunately try and sell the fans on this for another season and waste one of the most important drafts in this franchises history moving forward.
 

Harry Hooper

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Agree. This is what RKK signed up for. He hired a guy who really has little business being an NFL head coach. Mayo is in the early stages of an enormous learning curve across every aspect of head coaching. If Kraft thought he'd jump in and flourish then he's a fool.
Of course, it doesn't help that Mayo, a la Mangini, can't check in with BB for advice as he navigates the learning curve.
 

SMU_Sox

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It's pretty weird, I assume the thought at least early was to limit explosive plays given the offensive limitations. But they've been pretty thoroughly figured out, and cover 2 is putting the onus on their LBs (weakest position) instead of the corners (arguably strongest). I'd like to see them pivot to cover 1 and man heavy, bring more 5 and 6 man pressures... better to give up big plays sometimes than just get ground into dust on the ground and have QBs sit in the pocket for as long as they want and devour the holes in the zone.
I figured it was because they don’t have a true FS they trust. But getting routinely strangled to death in Cover-2, with Sunday’s game v JAX being rock bottom so far (they only got three real possessions in the second half), doesn’t seem like a better alternative to rolling the dice with more Cover-1. I’m with @Cellar-Door on this one.
Yeah I am in agreement here with both of you. I think Cover-3 would also work... another guy in the box to help stop the run too.


Genuine question, isn't every team doing more of those things?
Yes but I think they would be better off in more single high situations, more man coverage, and go higher risk higher reward. Blitz more too.


Side thought but maybe the ILB play is awful because these guys are basically street level FAs for a reason. Minus Tavai but he was a guy who has an issue getting distracted by shiny objects. Is it not coaching them up or do they just suck? Both, right? But what’s the mix?
 

Bigdogx

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It's not a mess if the Kraft's believe in Mayo.
What does believing in Mayo have to do with them making the wrong choice lmao? I dont care what they believe in, i believe in my own 2 eyes and it clearly is not working. Hey if they want to waste another season and a very important draft class to this franchise then so be it, it's Krafts team and money....
 

brendan f

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This is as close as we'll get to BB taking a victory lap - and I'm here for it. The team sucks, I'm fine with the architect of the greatest run in NFL history twisting the knife after having (and continuing to have) all the blame piled on his doorstep.
I'm not here for it. He deserves credit for their incredible run, but also deserves blame for his ego-driven decision making towards the end of his tenure. His comments were pathetic and had a lot more to say about his own feelings toward the organization than about the current coach or players. Unfortunately the rest of the media took the comments seriously and created an echo chamber of doom. He said Mayo's comments "hurt" him? I bet it hurt when he got his ass kicked out the door.

Now maybe Mayo's hire needs to be re-examined at some point, but here's hoping Bill's pot-stirring doesn't assist in getting him canned.
 

Trapaholic

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Been kicking around a thought in my head and I have not fully fleshed it out, but here it goes.

For years, Belichick had successfully walled off the Patriots from the rest of the league. Coaches and assistants were "his guys" and a lot of them got their big break in the NFL by working for the Belichick lead Patriots. Bryan Flores is the perfect example of a guy who started at the bottom and worked his way up.

The Patriots also had a notoriously small staff when it came to coaches and and assistants. Belichick had his hand in everything. Again - most of this was for the better.

Now we have this group of coaches and staff who really have no connections or influence from outside of the organization. Their experience has been under Bill Belichick, and that is all they know. If the coaches try to replicate what Bill would do, they're not Bill. Even Eliot Wolf has been around for 5 years at this point. In Wolf's previous role with the Pats, Bill still had the final say.

This staff was horrendously unprepared for the task at hand. From the X's and O's to all of the stuff that happens from Monday to Saturday, they are not ready for prime time. Mayo and his staff are a bunch of guys who have little experience, never mind success, in the NFL.

The buck stops with Kraft. He needs to expand his network and look outside of Foxborough for these answers. The knowledge is no longer in the room, and it is time to widen the focus towards people who can come in with fresh ideas.
 

DJnVa

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What does believing in Mayo have to do with them making the wrong choice lmao? I dont care what they believe in, i believe in my own 2 eyes and it clearly is not working. Hey if they want to waste another season and a very important draft class to this franchise then so be it, it's Krafts team and money....
If you let the outside noise define things, it will always be a mess.
 

Cellar-Door

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It's not a mess if the Kraft's believe in Mayo.
I mean it's 100% a mess regardless. The team is really bad, they just got embarrassed by one of the worst teams in the league, one of their captains got arrested, their players are all sniping at each other, and their incompetence is a national story.... that's a mess. Whether it matters long term... depends not on what the Kraft's believe, but whether they were right about Mayo and Wolf.
 

Marciano490

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This feels like Rocky V, where after Rocky was champion for a long time Paulie loses all the money and the whole family has to move back to Philly and they all start fighting.
 

E5 Yaz

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I mean it's 100% a mess regardless. The team is really bad, they just got embarrassed by one of the worst teams in the league, one of their captains got arrested, their players are all sniping at each other, and their incompetence is a national story.... that's a mess. Whether it matters long term... depends not on what the Kraft's believe, but whether they were right about Mayo and Wolf.
They're not just a mess, they're irrelevant. The only reason they're talked about this season at all is because it's the first post-BB year. Next season, whether or not he gets another coaching gig, the Patriots won't even get this much publicity. That's a disaster for Kraft's ego and legacy as an owner, at a time when he's still lobbying to get into the HoF.
 

DJnVa

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They're not just a mess, they're irrelevant. The only reason they're talked about this season at all is because it's the first post-BB year
The guy replacing Brady (and I count this as Mac and not Cam) and the guy replacing BB have to overperform pretty quickly or they have no shot.
 

BaseballJones

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The guy replacing Brady (and I count this as Mac and not Cam) and the guy replacing BB have to overperform pretty quickly or they have no shot.
It's almost impossible to be the next guy after the legend, whether it's the QB or HC.
 

E5 Yaz

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The guy replacing Brady (and I count this as Mac and not Cam) and the guy replacing BB have to overperform pretty quickly or they have no shot.
Yep. It sucks, but that's the "reality" of how sports are "analyzed" these days
 

rodderick

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Eh, I think there are very few "legends", so one succeeding the other is just a matter of odds. If someone else had done a mediocre job replacing Bill for 3 years and then Mayo was hired and the team looked exactly as dysfunctional, I don't think anyone would go any easier just because Bill wasn't the immediately preceding HC. Just as Mac Jones or Cam weren't unfairly compared to Brady, they just sucked.
 

FL4WL3SS

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Before firing Mayo, I'd consider bringing in a coaching consultant to help. Someone that has HC experience that can be a sounding board for Mayo and can evaluate the program and make recommendations.
 

rodderick

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Before firing Mayo, I'd consider bringing in a coaching consultant to help. Someone that has HC experience that can be a sounding board for Mayo and can evaluate the program and make recommendations.
Why? I'd get that if Mayo were like Bill in his stint in Cleveland, a creative schematic genius who has issues dealing with the locker room and media. Mayo's whole calling card is culture and leadership, no? If he needs outside help on that front, well, what's there to fall back on? Why keep him in that case?
 
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