FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – In a surprise move, Jerod Mayo has exited after one year as head coach of the New England Patriots, the team announced Sunday.

The Patriots finished the 2024 season with a 4-13 record. Mayo’s one-year tenure equals Rod Rust’s 1-15 finish in 1990, making it the shortest in franchise history.

“For me personally, this was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made,” owner Robert Kraft said in a statement. “I have known Jerod for 17 years. As a rookie in 2008 and throughout his career, he earned my respect and admiration for his play on the field, his leadership in the locker room and the way he carried himself in our community. When he came in. “Within our coaching staff, his leadership became even more apparent as I saw how the players responded to him. When other teams started interviewing him, I feared I would lose him and committed to making him our next head coach. The season opener on the road in Cincinnati only strengthened my conviction. Unfortunately, our team’s development throughout the season didn’t develop as I had hoped.

“Since I bought the team, I have always viewed myself and my family as stewards of a public asset. We have great fans who expect and deserve a better product than we have delivered in recent years. I apologize for that. “I’ve thought about it a lot and I’ve thought about what measures I can take to accelerate our return to championship contention and have come to the conclusion that this step is the best option at this time.”

“I am grateful to Jerod for his many contributions to the New England Patriots throughout his career and will always stand behind his success. I appreciate all his hard work and hope that the experience he has gained will help him in the future, and I am still convinced that he will be. I wish Jerod and his family only success in the future.

The Patriots won Mayo’s final game as coach, a 23-16 victory over the Buffalo Bills that instead dropped New England from No. 1 in the 2025 draft to No. 4.

Robert Kraft and team president Jonathan Kraft will now begin the search for the Patriots’ 16th head coach, with former New England linebacker and Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel among the candidates they are expected to interview.

Robert Kraft expected “growing pains” in Mayo’s debut season, partly because Mayo inherited a depleted squad. The Patriots started the new year tied with the Carolina Panthers and posted the lowest projected win total at 4.5. The decision to leave Mayo therefore reflects that Kraft did not see the team’s problems as simply the result of a lack of talent.

Firing a head coach after one season is rare, but not unprecedented.

In the last decade, Mayo joined Frank Reich (Panthers, 2023), Nathaniel Hackett (Denver Broncos, 2022), Lovie Smith (Houston Texans, 2022), David Culley (Texans, 2021), Urban Meyer (Jacksonville Jaguars, 2021). Freddie Kitchens (Cleveland Browns, 2019), Steve Wilks (Arizona Cardinals, 2018), Chip Kelly (San Francisco 49ers, 2016) and Jim Tomsula (49ers, 2015) as non-interim head coaches who did not make it into their second season.

The 38-year-old Mayo was hand-picked by Robert Kraft to succeed Bill Belichick, with Kraft citing his talent for connecting with a younger generation of players. Mayo played linebacker for the Patriots from 2008 to 2015, served as a financial manager at a healthcare company after retirement and worked in media before joining Belichick’s staff as linebackers coach from 2019 to 2023.

In the years leading up to his appointment as head coach of the Patriots on January 17, 2024, he had interviewed for head coaching jobs with the Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles and Las Vegas Raiders. Kraft was worried he might lose Mayo, so he inserted language into his contract in 2023 that would make him Belichick’s successor. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell later called the succession clause “intelligent management.”

One of the biggest disappointments of Mayo’s one-year tenure was the defense, considering it relied on his expertise as a former player and assistant.

The defense regressed in several areas, entering the season finale with just 12 takeaways and ranked last in the NFL in quarterback contacts, according to ESPN Research.

He also walked back several comments throughout the year, acknowledging that he made a “rookie mistake” when he said shortly after he was hired that the Patriots would “burn some money” if given free agency. He later changed his comments to say that the Patriots would spend their money wisely. Mayo also made headlines by calling the Patriots “soft football throughout” after their sixth straight loss in October, which he clarified the next day by saying the team was playing “soft.”

Mayo, who was more vocal with the media than Belichick, acknowledged several times during the year that he would make mistakes as a first-year coach and planned to learn from them. He described his coaching style as rooted in “developing people” while also noting, “My calling is to be a teacher and help them see what they don’t want to see but need to see.”

The Patriots have not won a playoff game since their 13-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII on February 3, 2019.