How Jerod Mayo talked his way out of Patriots job

You can have some bad and boring press conferences when you’re arguably the best NFL coach ever.It’s a different story for a struggling first-year leader.Fired Patriots coach Jerod Mayo’s tenure as Bill Belichick’s successor lasted just one season in part due to his mishandling of media opportunities, according to The Athletic.“Almost from the beginning, Mayo’s various media appearances, from news conferences to his weekly morning-drive interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” ranged from contradictory and uncomfortable to one unfortunate instance that had a whiff of old-fashioned buck-passing,” Steve Buckley wrote.The Patriots hand-picked Mayo, a former Super Bowl champion with the team, to be the one to take on the gargantuan task of following the Belichick era.They hoped his time as a player and coach under Belichick would allow for a seamless transition.That didn’t happen.The Mayo era started with a shocking upset of the Bengals and ended with the team blowing the No.1 pick by beating the Bills at home in Week 18.A 4-13 record won’t do a coach any favors, and Mayo did himself no favors by failing to impress in other areas of the job, particularly public appearances.“But as the verbal missteps continued, it became ever more obvious Mayo lacked the proper amount of training to be a head coach in the NFL,” The Athletic reported.Mayo reportedly raised eyebrows when he called 83-year-old team owner Robert Kraft “Young Thundercat” and “Thunder” because he felt he has a “young soul.”The 38-year-old also did not communicate well regarding the quarterback battle between veteran Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye.Mayo noted how Maye had outplayed Brissett during camp, but then named the journeyman the starter.The coach also had multiple instances where he walked back comments.Mayo said the Patriots were “ready to burn some cash” in free agency, a statement that ended up looking foolish when New England did little to improve its ro...