The New England Patriots made headlines on Sunday afternoon after making a shocking decision.
New England shockingly decided to fire Jerod Mayo, the team’s hand-picked successor to Bill Belichick, after only one season. That’s just the beginning it seems. The Patriots had one more move to make as well.
New England also dumped offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt after one season in Foxborough. That means that rookie quarterback Drake Maye will have to learn another offense in his second year in the league.
Ben Volin, a longtime reporter in the New England area, confirmed the Mayo news and reported Van Pelt’s firing.
Adam on it first but source confirms to the Globe that Jerod Mayo has been fired. OC Alex Van Pelt is out as well. Krafts waste no time in making big changes https://t.co/wgYd8Otc7R
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) January 5, 2025
“Adam on it first, but source confirms to the Globe that Jerod Mayo has been fired. OC Alex Van Pelt is out as well,” Volin said.
The Patriots’ puzzling decisions to let go of both Mayo and Van Pelt after one season will send some shockwaves throughout the league. It’s not a particularly great look for an African-American head coach to be a one-and-done, especially when most of the Patriots’ problems stem from poor personnel and an uphill trek they have to go on. That appeared clear when they hired Mayo, a first-time head coach, in a first-year situation with a rookie quarterback.
But evidently… it was not enough in fact.
New England’s puzzling decision resulted in several reactions across the board.
Total reset on offense. Gotta assume the defense is also gutted. Clean break makes the most sense (and that should include Wolf) https://t.co/nVdpBPl363
— McGarvin (@PatriotsPOV) January 5, 2025
With Alex Van Pelt also being fired, Patriots will have 5 different offensive coordinators in 5 years (McDaniels, Patricia, O’Brien, Van Pelt, 2025 OC) https://t.co/ultuUvwOAx
— Adam Ginsberg (@adam_ginsberg11) January 5, 2025
Honestly not sure if I like this with how Maye performed but I’m not stressing over it lol https://t.co/3vOZx8OI6Q
— Shawn Guiney (@shawn_guiney) January 5, 2025
AVP???? This can’t be. I was assured by the local media that the browns failed because they fired him. https://t.co/dGJl4Xfdww
— Nick Fink (@finkn23) January 5, 2025
