New England Patriots great Rob Gronkowski is “surprised” the team moved on from Jerod Mayo.
The Patriots announced they were firing Mayo as head coach shortly after the team’s Week 18 season finale win over the Buffalo Bills. The win actually dropped New England down to the No. 4 pick after they were pegged to have the No. 1 pick had they ended the season at 3-14.
However, there were other issues that led to Mayo’s firing, including the belief that he wasn’t ready to be a head coach along with a lack of experience in the NFL outside of coaching the Patriots.
“Yeah I was surprised about that move to hear about Jerod getting fired,” says Gronkowski in a one-on-one interview on behalf of his partnership with Bounty. “He took on a team that was going to need time to rebuild and develop to get back to those winning ways — and that roster was depleted. Jerod was a rookie head coach and I felt like he needed another year to really judge him based on how he would do, develop and grow after his first season.”
While Gronkowski is surprised that the Patriots moved on from Mayo, the team’s hand-picked successor to legendary head coach Bill Belichick, he says it’s clear team owner Robert Kraft did not feel like Mayo would be the guy to turn the franchise around.
The Patriots have struggled in the post-Tom Brady era, making just one playoff appearance since his departure after the 2019 season and going 33-51 over the past five seasons, with four losing records in that time frame.
“Obviously just after that first season, it was apparent that Kraft felt like he was not the guy to build a culture back to its winning ways,” says Gronkowski of Mayo. “Therefore Kraft axes him and wastes no time in firing him — it was like five minutes after the game, which is pretty crazy. He let go of Jerod’s duties and now Kraft will be in the process of hiring a new coach that he believes will turn around the Patriots program and get them back to winning ways and get them back into the playoffs.”
Gronk Outlines Two Head Coaches That Would Make Patriots Fans Happy
The obvious favorite to land New England’s head coaching job is Mike Vrabel, a fan favorite as a player for the Patriots and a proven head coach at the NFL level who previously led the Tennessee Titans to an AFC Championship Game.
It’s no coincidence that the Patriots wasted no time in moving on from Mayo as Vrabel started taking on NFL head coaching interviews after spending the past year as a consultant for the Cleveland Browns following his firing from the Titans.
“We’ll see who they bring in,” says Gronkowski of the Patriots’ head coaching search. “I think Vrabel is a strong candidate and I think the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions, Ben Johnson, is a strong candidate as well. If they can land one of those, I think New England Patriots fans will be very happy.”
Patriots Have ‘Intriguing’ Situation With Drake Maye, Cap Space
Gronkowski plays up how coveted the Patriots’ head coaching vacancy is, considering their plethora of cap space — at least $126 million, by far the most in the league — along with now featuring a franchise quarterback in Drake Maye, who had a solid rookie campaign despite an underwhelming offensive supporting cast.
”It’s an intriguing situation because they have $134 million in cap space and then they also have Drake Maye on a rookie contract,” says Gronkowski. “So you can bring in a lot of talent. Drake Maye is ready to go as well.”
The four-time Super Bowl champion is partnering with Bounty leading into Super Bowl LIX and he’s doing it with New Orleans Saints great Drew Brees as his wingman. The partnership is fitting considering the Super Bowl will take place where Brees carved out his legacy in New Orleans.
The partnership will see the two in some social media posts together on behalf of Bounty leading into Super Bowl LIX.
“I gave Drew a call because he’s the Mayor of New Orleans,” says Gronkowski of partnering up with Brees in New Orleans for Bounty. “Everyone knows who he is. And I want to be set up nice and I want someone to show me around town nicely. I gave him a call, he accepted it, no problem, to be my wingman.
“Now we’re going to be running around Radio Row eating wings, tackling messes with Bounty paper towels. There was one saying I told Drew that he has to remember throughout our time together as wingmen — you can’t have football without wings and you can’t have wings without Bounty. Because Bounty tackles all messes and when you’re eating wings, it’s always messy.”
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