Things are bad for the New England Patriots and rookie head coach Jerod Mayo in 2024, so bad one writer believes the coaching hasn’t been this poor since the franchise posted its worst-ever record, 1-15 in 1990.
That record came on the watch of Rod Rust and is an infamous low for the Patriots. There could be a repeat this season because The Ringer’s Bill Simmons believes “This is the worst-coached Pats team since Rod Rust. They play all the hits every week — dumb penalties, drops, special teams mistakes, incredibly poor play calling. Each week is worse than the last. You get what you pay for.”
It’s a tough assessment, but the recent results don’t look good for Mayo and his rebuilding efforts. Not when the Pats have lost six-straight games amid a flurry of noise about turmoil behind the scenes.
Noise like the coach branding his players “soft.” Or like more than one veteran questioning the professionalism of teammates. Even Mayo’s six-time Super Bowl-winning predecessor Bill Belichick has gone in on his former player.
It’s all very early nineties for the Patriots, and that’s not a good look.
Jerod Mayo Taking Heat from Bill Belichick
Mayo has already benched his starting quarterback, and called out his defense. Then he branded his whole team as “soft” following Week 7’s 32-16 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
Talk about a rough transition to the top job.
You’d think Mayo would get some sympathy from Belichick. After all Mayo played middle linebacker for Belichick for eight seasons before joining his coaching staff.
Longstanding ties didn’t prompt Belichick to support Mayo publicly. Instead, the former boss spoke out to Patriots legend Tom Brady and Jim Gray on Sirius XM’s “Let’s Go!” podcast.
Belichick said, “I think when you criticize your team publicly like that, it doesn’t always go over well. Every coach has their own style and maybe sometimes that can be effective and all, but ultimately, I always felt like when the team played bad that was my responsibility too. We might’ve had bad playing, but we had bad coaching that led to bad playing, so I think it’s always best to kinda, you know, take a look at yourself and do what you can do to help the team.”
In addition, Belichick also pointed out “last year the Patriots led the league in rushing defense, yards per carry, No. 1 in the league. This year, 26th or whatever it is. It’s the same players. I don’t think those players on defense are soft, but they haven’t stopped the run very well this year.”
Belichick didn’t pull his punches, but it’s fair to wonder if there’s a bit of revisionist history going on here from a coach who was essentially fired after going 4-13 in 2023. As Doug Kyed of The Boston Herald noted, “Belichick stayed pretty restrained about the Patriots through the first quarter of the season. I wonder if him letting loose now has anything to do with comments Robert Kraft made on The Breakfast Club. One that stood out most to me was Kraft acknowledging Belichick was fired when it was presented at the time as a mutual parting of ways.”
Whatever Belichick’s motivation, he’s been blunt about a former player burdened with a massive rebuilding job after a huge step up in responsibility. Mayo has gone from coaching inside linebackers to running the whole show and the strain is showing, both on him and his players.
Patriots Players Questioning New Culture
Mayo lacks experience managing the emotions of a whole team. He’s also not been this responsible for the overall culture before.
The Patriots want to at least retain the tone-setters from the Belichick era. Things like discipline and preparing for games the right way.
It’s a worry when experienced pros are questioning the habits of players under the new regime. Both wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale were critical of the way teammates prepared for their recent game overseas, per Kyed’s colleague Andrew Callahan.
Bourne called on Patriots players to “(Make) personal decisions. Rather than staying up all night or eating whatever.” Meanwhile, Ekuale thinks “a lot of guys think too highly of themselves and have to check their egos.”
These criticisms are becoming a damaging theme. Nose tackle Davon Godchaux has twice called out teammates for not playing selfless football and even lacking pride.
A team without elite talent can’t afford to have the wrong attitude on game-days. That’s how an already dire season can become as bad as 1990.
Rod Rust’s Patriots Legacy More Than 1-15
It’s worth noting Rust’s legacy with the Patriots goes beyond one ill-fated year in the top job. Before then, he was a highly popular defensive coordinator who built a terrific 3-4 front around linebackers Andre Tippett, Steve Nelson and Don Blackmon.
This unit propelled the 1985 Patriots to an unlikely Super Bowl berth. They twice frustrated and thwarted Dan Marino and the high-powered Miami Dolphins en route, most famously in the AFC Championship Game.
Rust’s brief foray as head coach started a three-year run when the Patriots went 9-39, before Bill Parcells took the reins. He restored pride and laid the foundations for future success, foundations Belichick benefited from in 2001 after a brief, Pete Carroll-fronted interlude.
Mayo does’t have nearly as much to work with following Belichick’s departure, but the 38-year-old needs to somehow find solutions fast.
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