Jerod Mayo was only given one season to prove he could handle being the head coach of the New England Patriots, and one of the team’s star players seems to think that was unfair.
Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez discussed a wide range of topics during an appearance on the latest episode of the “Frat Rules” podcast, which was released on Monday. The former first-round pick was asked if he liked playing for Mayo, and he offered support for his former coach.
Gonzalez even said unprompted that the Patriots “did (Mayo) a little dirty” by firing him after one season.
“I did. I did. I think they did him a little dirty giving him only one year,” Gonzalez said. “It’s business, so, you know what I mean. We gonna see what (Vrabel) do.”
Gonzalez has been one of the few bright spots on a Patriots team that was terrible the past two seasons. The former Oregon star played in just four games as a rookie in 2023 before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, but he bounced back this year and was named a Second-team All-Pro.
Mike Vrabel will be Gonzalez’s third coach in three seasons. All three of the coaches — Vrabel, Mayo and Bill Belichick — have backgrounds in defense, which could present challenges for Gonzalez and other defensive players. Though, Mayo was an assistant on Belichick’s staff, so there was probably plenty of carry-over from one regime to the next.
The Patriots had named Mayo their head-coach-in-waiting prior to pushing out Belichick. Vrabel was then unexpectedly fired by the Tennessee Titans.
Mayo made some big mistakes in his first season as a head coach, but it is possible Robert Kraft regretted promising the job to Mayo, especially after Vrabel became available. That likely had something to do with the decision to not bring Mayo back for another season.
