OT: Mayo’s first public appearance since his firing

[Thelonious]

When the owner hires a coach out of an inclination - let's be honest - to DEI virtue-signalling and because he found the guy to be a charming travel companion, this is what you get. To me, it was obvious from the start, before he was hired, that he lacked the character, communication skills, insight to be a head coach. Even when he was co-hosting with Curran, i remember thinking the guy really didn't have many insights worth sharing. He was a nice guy, no question: so the F what?

We wasted a year. Good riddance. I wish him a happy life, and I have compassion for what must have been his painful embarrassment, but I wouldn't want him anywhere near my football team, except in a narrow, technical role, perhaps as a DC, though it is not at all clear, in part because he essentially divided the job when he had it here, that his skills are adequate even to that role.

He was a very good linebacker, who turned out to be ill-suited to coaching. So it goes. Many iof us have found ourselves in a job which, we discovered, did not match our aptitude. Our failures are just usually not as public as Jerrod's.

 

[Tunescribe]

He failed because he wasn’t ready to be the head coach of a pro football team. He was inexperienced and handed a roster that was the worst in the league. The result was painfully predictable.

I doubt it had anything to do with what you said but whatever fits the narrative people were shaping before he even ran a practice.

It is not a false narrative, it's why he thought he could just waltz in and handle the job. Mayo's over-the-top approach to culture change -- doing a deliberate hard reverse from BB's way even when only for the sake of appearance -- absolutely played a role in his failure as HC. That is, alongside being woefully inexperienced/unprepared and saddled with a poor roster. The team was sloppy, undisciplined and attention to detail/situational awareness became practically nonexistent on his watch while he tried to figure things out on the fly.

 

[Mike the Brit]

I understand this in the context of BB's approach but will suggest the bolded was among his utmost failures. It sprang from his ego -- that whole "building character in young men and young women" social missionary nonsense queering the introductory presser. The infamous mural illustrating Mayo's self-importance in this respect is deservedly gone along with him.

You're entitled to your opinion, but I think that three things are evident.

1. What made BB great was his willingness to listen to others (especially Ernie) even though he didn't show his cards to anyone. Towards the end of his regime, though, it seems to have been a reign of terror and those who questioned his decisions (particularly his mad, post-McDaniels offensive coaching structure) like Damien Harris, Meyers and, apparently, Hoyer, were shipped out.

2. None of BB's former coaches have had great success as Head Coaches elsewhere, not because they weren't very knowledgeable about football and excellent position coaches, but because of their failures in relating to their players.

3. The players last season loved Mayo and really bought in to his leadership (a Gatorade shower after his first game!)

They were let down by terrible GM-ing (14 different players on the O-Line, only one survivor from the draft) and appalling coaching by AVP and Covington.

I don't see Mayo as having been "self-important" but inexperienced and unsure of himself. What he needed was a consigliere to ease him into the role. What he got was Eliot Wolf.

Anyway, Vrabel is here now -- but Wolf remains.

The Patriots have $32 million in dead money (people who are being paid not to be here!) of which over 20 million comes from Godchaux, Peppers, David Andrews, Strange, Bentley, and Bourne. Were none of them good enough even to be backups? Or is this more player selection on the basis of whose guy you are, not how you can play?

 

[Huckleberry1]

He was in way over his head, in every way. You could have handed him the best roster in the league and he still would have failed.

 

[Kdo5]

It is not a false narrative, it's why he thought he could just waltz in and handle the job. Mayo's over-the-top approach to culture change -- doing a deliberate hard reverse from BB's way even when only for the sake of appearance -- absolutely played a role in his failure as HC.

1. He had no idea how to help coach an offense.
2. His coordinators sucked.
3. His players sucked.

That right there is the recipe for a bottom of the barrel team. It was basically toss in a totally inexperienced guy and see if he sank or swam. Even then they were still in position to win 3 or 4 more games.

Anything unrelated to football is just something you want to complain about and fixate blame on.

It’s funny you talk about his ego. I guarantee you that Belichick and Vrabel’s egos far outweigh Mayo.

 

[Patjew]

1. He had no idea how to help coach an offense.
2. His coordinators sucked.
3. His players sucked.

That right there is the recipe for a bottom of the barrel team. It was basically toss in a totally inexperienced guy and see if he sank or swam. Even then they were still in position to win 3 or 4 more games.

Anything unrelated to football is just something you want to complain about and fixate blame on.

It’s funny you talk about his ego. I guarantee you that Belichick and Vrabel’s egos far outweigh Mayo.

4. He had no idea how to be a proper head coach and made ******** excuses to the media for failures.

 

[Kdo5]

4. He had no idea how to be a proper head coach and made ******** excuses to the media for failures.

Yah. He wasn’t ready to be a head coach and it showed. Far from the first, far from the last. End of story.

Also why aren’t we blaming the Krafts for the debacle? Some of you guys act like the team was okay before he took over. We’d been dog **** well before Mayo took over.

 

[Patjew]

Yah. He wasn’t ready to be a head coach and it showed. Far from the first, far from the last. End of story.

Also why aren’t we blaming the Krafts for the debacle? Some of you guys act like the team was okay before he took over. We’d been dog **** well before Mayo.

I blame Kraft the most for this and many other things. Start that thread and you’ll see!

 

[borg]

Mayo's ceiling: Ex-jock motivational speaker at healthcare company conventions.

 

[Kdo5]

I blame Kraft the most for this and many other things. Start that thread and you’ll see!

No need to start a thread. We largely agree. I just get annoyed when some people think Mayo deserves the largest portion of the blame pie for our descent into suckage.

I place the Kraft’s as #1, Belichick #2, Wolfe/Personnel dept #3, then Mayo.

 

[Tunescribe]

You're entitled to your opinion, but I think that three things are evident.

1. What made BB great was his willingness to listen to others (especially Ernie) even though he didn't show his cards to anyone. Towards the end of his regime, though, it seems to have been a reign of terror and those who questioned his decisions (particularly his mad, post-McDaniels offensive coaching structure) like Damien Harris, Meyers and, apparently, Hoyer, were shipped out.

2. None of BB's former coaches have had great success as Head Coaches elsewhere, not because they weren't very knowledgeable about football and excellent position coaches, but because of their failures in relating to their players.

3. The players last season loved Mayo and really bought in to his leadership (a Gatorade shower after his first game!)

They were let down by terrible GM-ing (14 different players on the O-Line, only one survivor from the draft) and appalling coaching by AVP and Covington.Ben

I don't see Mayo as having been "self-important" but inexperienced and unsure of himself. What he needed was a consigliere to ease him into the role. What he got was Eliot Wolf.

Anyway, Vrabel is here now -- but Wolf remains.

The Patriots have $32 million in dead money (people who are being paid not to be here!) of which over 20 million comes from Godchaux, Peppers, David Andrews, Strange, Bentley, and Bourne. Were none of them good enough even to be backups? Or is this more player selection on the basis of whose guy you are, not how you can play?

I'll take the Vegas odds on rookie HCs getting doused in Gatorade after a season-opening win every time. Of course, many players loved Mayo early on because a hug, warm smile and highfalutin rhetoric essentially comprised his skillset. Then football reality set in with the likes of Keion White bearing witness.

A coach must be fair, brutally honest, consistent in defining player roles/responsibilities and sufficiently knowledgeable to put them in a position to win. That's 90 percent of "relating" and leadership. Beyond that, accounts abound through the years of BB caring for his guys, being a master motivator, sharing humor, etc.

Yes, things went very bad at the end and BB unwittingly orchestrated his own demise. But as the self-fashioned anti-BB "culturally speaking," Mayo wrongly considered himself a qualified successor. Whatever drove that -- hubris, naïveté, or blind ambition -- proved just as bad coming from the spectrum's opposite end. Thank goodness he wasn't handed a better roster or he'd probably still be here.

One nit to pick on BB's withered coaching tree: Bill O'Brien has a winning record as HC at both pro and college levels.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

his 2nd public appearance will be mayo clinic

 

[JoeSixPat]

I've always felt that the Krafts somewhat set up Mayo to fail, at least in his first season.

I think he probably had a handshake promise that they'd give him more than one season in the post BB era, knowing that WHOEVER came in after BB was probably never going to be able to live up to fan expectations.

And last year's roster and approach made it clear that the game plan was to give Maye time to develop, accepting that losing with Brissett or Maye was the price to be paid for the rebuild, which they felt might even result in the #1 pick.

Unfortunately Mayo did and said far too many things that made clear he was never going to be the man for the job and Kraft cut him early. That was the correct decision but it was clear that Mayo was/is miffed the way they treated him.

Whether he "won" a game on purpose, suggesting that he lost other games on purpose before, is unclear, but at that point I blame Kraft and the front office for making the decision to play a guy at QB who had everything to win for, as QB for a team that had everything to lose if he won.

Tough to fault any player or any coach for trying to show they can win - if losing were the goal, then Kraft and Wolf misplayed it and are to blame.

 

[Nikolai]

The money is hard to beat, especially when guaranteed in event of failure.

Yep...

 

[Brady to Maye]

i wonder if Mayo even liked being a head coach.

I think he will be a HC again some day . Most likely in college.

 

[Kasmir]

You're entitled to your opinion, but I think that three things are evident.

1. What made BB great was his willingness to listen to others (especially Ernie) even though he didn't show his cards to anyone. Towards the end of his regime, though, it seems to have been a reign of terror and those who questioned his decisions (particularly his mad, post-McDaniels offensive coaching structure) like Damien Harris, Meyers and, apparently, Hoyer, were shipped out.

2. None of BB's former coaches have had great success as Head Coaches elsewhere, not because they weren't very knowledgeable about football and excellent position coaches, but because of their failures in relating to their players.

3. The players last season loved Mayo and really bought in to his leadership (a Gatorade shower after his first game!)

They were let down by terrible GM-ing (14 different players on the O-Line, only one survivor from the draft) and appalling coaching by AVP and Covington.

I don't see Mayo as having been "self-important" but inexperienced and unsure of himself. What he needed was a consigliere to ease him into the role. What he got was Eliot Wolf.

Anyway, Vrabel is here now -- but Wolf remains.

The Patriots have $32 million in dead money (people who are being paid not to be here!) of which over 20 million comes from Godchaux, Peppers, David Andrews, Strange, Bentley, and Bourne. Were none of them good enough even to be backups? Or is this more player selection on the basis of whose guy you are, not how you can play?

Belichick was ultimately a victim of his own success which fed his ego and led him to believe he was infallible. The shark he jumped was believing that he was so great that he could still win while only working with the players and coaches he personally liked.

In his latter years he brewed a toxic ****tail of favoritism, cronyism and nepotism that poisoned player personnel, the front office and of course coaching.

But Bill truly was great, and in his earlier career he really did inspire success amongst his coaches, front office people, and players turned coaches:

Nick Saban coached under Bill and later became one of the greatest coaches in NCAA history

Ozzie Newsome got his start as a coach and in the front office under Bill and is widely credited with establishing the success culture of the Browns/Ravens.

Kevin O'Connell was Coach of the Year last year. He was a 3rd round pick by Belichick and no doubt learned much from Bill.

Kirk Ferentz who was an OL coach under Bill is the winningest coach in Iowa Hawkeyes' football history with over 300 wins.

And of course there's Vrabel himself.

And innumerable very successful coordinators.

So yeah, Bill ultimately made a mockery of himself because of his ego, arrogance, and self indulgence. And ingratitude: he learned the hard way how lucky he was to have coached Tom Brady.

But he was once truly great.

 

[Free_Pacman]

You guys are delusional if you think Mayo will ever have any type of coaching position in the NFL again.

Putting aside his disastrous performance as HC and putting feelings toward Belichick aside, it is pretty clear Mayo was constantly gunning for Belichick’s job behind is back. No NFL coach will ever hire him.

 

[lancerman]

It is not a false narrative, it's why he thought he could just waltz in and handle the job. Mayo's over-the-top approach to culture change -- doing a deliberate hard reverse from BB's way even when only for the sake of appearance -- absolutely played a role in his failure as HC. That is, alongside being woefully inexperienced/unprepared and saddled with a poor roster. The team was sloppy, undisciplined and attention to detail/situational awareness became practically nonexistent on his watch while he tried to figure things out on the fly.

Tbf until we see how this season goes, it's kinda hard to make a total judgment. If we only win 4 games again (which is a possibility, we just had a dogfight against one of our easiest opponents) it's going to be hard to look back at Mayo and say he was so bad if Belichick had 4 wins, he had 4 wins, and then Vrabel only had 4 or 5 wins.

At some point the people playing have some level of responsibility.

 

[signbabybrady]

Tbf until we see how this season goes, it's kinda hard to make a total judgment. If we only win 4 games again (which is a possibility, we just had a dogfight against one of our easiest opponents) it's going to be hard to look back at Mayo and say he was so bad if Belichick had 4 wins, he had 4 wins, and then Vrabel only had 4 or 5 wins.

At some point the people playing have some level of responsibility.

Just blame Wolf

 

[NFL Mystique]

Kraft set him up to fail. There was no way he was going to be successful with a subpar roster. It's a shame how it ended.