There was no finger-pointing in New England the day after the Patriots fired Jerod Mayo.
“This whole situation is on me,’ owner Robert Kraft said while addressing media Monday. ‘I feel terrible for Jerod because I put him in an untenable situation. I know 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.’
The team’s 4-13 record and, mainly, the regression over the season prompted Kraft to make the change. Kraft said the situation evolved and that he went back and forth with the decision over the past month. Kraft’s personal relationship with Mayo, who played for the Patriots and was an assistant coach under Bill Belichick before being named as his successor, made it complicated.
‘I felt guilty I put him in that position,’ Kraft said. ‘But we’re moving on.’
Kraft did not inform Mayo before the team’s 23-16 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, which dropped them out of contention of the first overall pick in the draft.
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The next head coach will have to continue developing quarterback Drake Maye, the third overall pick in last year’s draft, and would take over a roster with holes across the board.
The Patriots plan on moving fast, Kraft said, in hiring Mayo’s replacement and have already made requests to speak with candidates. Multiple reports said the team asked to speak with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Mayo lasted one season after Belichick coached the team for 24 seasons and won six Super Bowls.
General manager Eliot Wolf and his staff will stay on, Kraft said.
‘I don’t like losing. I don’t like losing the way we lost,’ he said. ‘Just things were not developing the way we liked. It was time to move on.’