Insiders Highlight Depressing Jerod Mayo, Patriots Reality

Patriots owner Robert Kraft expressed all the confidence in the world in Jerod Mayo as head coach, but it might have been a misguided thought.

Kraft revealed last month he hand-picked Mayo five years ago as Bill Belichick’s successor. It called into question New England’s selection process, but fans and media were willing to wait and see what Mayo could do as head coach. The results didn’t look so great after a 1-6 start. You then add in the off-the-field drama with players voicing frustrations, Mayo’s constant flip-flopping and his comment this week when he called his team “soft.”

Patriots insider Tom Curran pointed out an unfortunate reality when it came to Mayo as head coach.

“He wasn’t ready for it,” Curran said on the “Patriots Talk Podcast” on Wednesday, per NBC Sports Boston.

It’s hard to disagree with Curran’s assessment of Mayo. It was a line of thinking ESPN’s Adam Schefter also brought up Thursday.

“There is a big acclimation period for a lot of coaches who step in and don’t realize all the responsibilities that come along with it.,” Schefter said on the “WEEI Afternoon Show.” “And I know it sounds simple like, ‘How can that be?’ But all of a sudden, they’re getting knocks on their door around the clock from being with various issues that they didn’t have to deal with as a coordinator. And I think there’s a learning curve involved with a lot of these jobs. … There is a learning curve that comes along with this job, and I would guess the that Patriots and Jerod Mayo and realizing ‘Wow, this is larger than we realized.’ When you have a guy who played there, you don’t think about it always. It just kind of runs itself, but it’s not that simple. And I think that they’re starting to realize that this year a little bit.”

It’s a tough thought for Patriots fans to hear, but it’s hard not to think it’s true. Mayo certainly has a chance to turn things around, and winning is the cure-all for a lot of problems. But it seems like there was a miscalculation from ownership on how smoothly the post-Belichick era would begin.