Patriots Firing Jerod Mayo This Early Would Be Huge Mistake

It’s pretty absurd that we have to even write this…

The Patriots are undoubtedly in the most volatile position they’ve been in over the last three decades, with problems permeating from ownership, the front office, the coaching staff and the locker room. It’s a mess over at One Patriot Place, but there really can’t be that many people who feel like firing first-year head coach Jerod Mayo is the answer, right?

RIGHT!?

It’s something you’ll see all over social media, with one-half of the fan base believing there needs to be some patience and the other showcasing their bloodlust after just seven weeks. New England likely isn’t paying attention to any of that, but it’s hard to ignore on our side.

We’d like to make it clear, though: The Patriots absolutely should not fire Mayo, whether that be at any point this season or next.

Mayo has not done a good job, so we’ll get that out of the way early. It’s pretty apparent that the idea he’d been learning behind the scenes for multiple seasons was just an easy presumption and less of a fact. The Patriots are more relaxed, they’ve built in systems to allow the players to slack off, they don’t have a stranglehold on everything said and done in and around the building — and that clearly is leading to issues that need to be resolved.

Mayo should at least be given an opportunity to resolve them, though.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell is one of the darlings of the NFL, but he started with a 4-19-1 record across parts of two seasons before turning it around. Campbell has a presence about him, that’s for sure, but let’s not forget that he was the butt of the joke for wanting to bite people’s kneecaps or the fact that he was literally referred to as “Fred Flintstone” by a national radio personality.

Is it fair to compare Mayo to Campbell, or vice-versa? No, but the point remains that patience is something one was afforded and the other needs.

Mayo doesn’t have one of the best front-office men in the league planning out his rebuild, nor does he have a star-studded cast of assistant coaches. The Patriots, instead, have a guy who lets things like this happen.

It’s dysfunctional, sure, but Mayo might not be the person who needs to go. Greg Bedard has covered the team for a number of years, and in a recent appearance on “Felger and Mazz” speculated others might be on the outs before the head coach.

“I think — how do I put this — I think there were some thoughts during the summer that, there were questions going on around the building about whether this was the right thing for the program. There was some second-guessing, second thoughts about it. I’ll tell you it’s my opinion from talking to people that I don’t think Jerod Mayo is assured of a second season if this is a complete dumpster fire,” Bedard said. “Now, I don’t think that’s likely. … But I think it would be wise for Jerod to get on top of things. If that means him going into the defensive meeting room, taking over play calling, something. He needs — if this is the way the rest of the season is going to go, a lot of people are going to get fired.”

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New England would look even more dysfunctional than it already does if the plug was prematurely pulled on this experiment. Mayo very well could continue to stick his foot in his mouth, struggle to make an impact with players and lose every game he coaches moving forward, but the benefit of sticking with him showcases that there’s a true plan in Foxboro, Mass.

It’s totally unsurprising that Patriots fans are adjusting so horribly to being like every other organization, but at some point, you need to see the forest for the trees. It’s in the best interest of the long-term success of the club that they see this thing through, and in a way, through sharing this viewpoint we’re calling our shot that improvements will be made.

The Patriots hate losing just as much as you do, so give this group a chance to actually do something about it.