Ahead of Week 3 with the team 1-1, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft hinted he hand-picked Jerod Mayo to be the team’s successor to Bill Belichick.

With the Patriots having lost six games in a row and rapidly spiraling out of playoff contention, perhaps Kraft wouldn’t speak as glowingly of his selection.

Boston-everything sports fan Bill Simmons – founder of The Ringer – admitted on X that he had only just seen the clip of Kraft today and shared it with his over 5.5 million followers.

“I’ve gotten to know Jarod over the last 12-15 years, and you know I picked him five years ago to be our next coach,” Kraft admitted to Taylor Rooks on Amazon ahead of his team’s game against the New York Jets. “He’s very special and it’s great he had the opportunity to train under Bill [Belichick].”

Simmons tweeted the clip along with a blurb: “I just found out about this… Kraft admitting last month that he picked Mayo to be the next Patriots coach five years ago. So [Bill Belichick] coached last few years with an owner who resented/undermined him and his successor planted on his staff?”

Kraft and Belichick drafted Mayo with the tenth pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. The linebacker spent his entire eight-year career with the Patriots and was selected to two Pro Bowls.

Mayo served as the team’s interior linebacker coach under Belichick from 2019 to 2023 before he was appointed as the team’s head coach this offseason.

Newly appointed head coach Jerod Mayo and Owner Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots pose for a photo following a press conference at Gillette Stadium

Kraft (R) named Mayo his coach ahead of the 2024 NFL season ( 

Image:

Getty Images)

Even though the Patriots finished a dismal 4-13 last season under Belichick, the team still performed well on the defensive side of the ball. Belichick’s defense allowed the fourth-fewest rushing yards and the ninth-fewest points in the entire NFL.

Mayo has inherited a team with mostly the same players yet his unit has badly regressed. This year, the Patriots have allowed the 12th-most rushing yards and the eighth-most points in the league.

The team’s lone bright spot has been rookie quarterback Drake Maye. The third pick in the 2024 NFL Draft has played well in his two starts behind a makeshift offensive line.

He completed 26 of 37 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns in a 32-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

Mayo was vocal in his displeasure with his team’s play. “I felt like we just went out there and played soft,” he said. “We’re playing soft at the moment.”

“Now in saying that, do I think we have the guys in there that can turn this ship around? One hundred percent. But that comes through hard work and getting better each and every day.”