Tennessee Vols legend Jerod Mayo, a former linebacker who played at UT under Phillip Fulmer from 2004 to 2007, lasted just one season as the head coach of the New England Patriots. 

Mayo, who took over as the Patriots head coach after the 2023 season, was fired by New England after going 4-13 in 2024 (the Patriots also went 4-13 in 2023 in Bill Belichick's final season as the team's head coach). 

New England introduced former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel as the franchise's new head coach on Monday. 

Vrabel, who played for the Patriots for eight seasons, was teammates with Mayo in New England in 2008 (Mayo's rookie season). 

On Monday, Vrabel made a comment during his introductory press conference that shows exactly why Mayo struggled in his lone season as the Patriots' head coach. 

Vrabel was asked by a reporter if he ever "dreamed about" coaching the Patriots. 

While answering the question, Vrabel revealed that he thought it was important to experience different coaching situations early in his career. 

"Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, probably more-so when I started my coaching career," said Vrabel. "I think it was important for me to go somewhere else, to start another coaching journey. The opportunity, at one point, probably presented itself to be here coaching, but I felt like it was important to forge my own path somewhere else. And if all those experiences led me back here at the right time and the right opportunity, then that was going to be what was meant to be. But not [while] coaching the Tennessee Titans, that that was never something that took my time. But I think that when I started my coaching career, I said, 'man, let's go and let's see where we can go and take this and work with other people, and if the time's right to go back, then it'll be the right time'." 

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Vrabel and Mayo obviously both have deep connections to the Patriots. And both men are thought of as tremendous leaders. Vrabel, however, is probably going to have more success in New England than Mayo because of his career path. 

Mayo spent his entire playing career with the Patriots. And his entire coaching career prior to taking over as New England's head coach was with the Patriots. 

After leaving Tennessee in 2007, Mayo played and coached under just one head coach — Bill Belichick. 

Belichick isn't exactly known for his ability to develop future head coaches. Numerous coaches have left Belichick's staff to become NFL head coaches and they've nearly all failed (Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini, Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia, Brian Flores, Joe Judge, etc). Belichick was in the business of winning in New England, not developing coaches. 

As a pro player and as a coach, Mayo never experienced anything outside of Belichick's culture. As a result, Mayo was essentially still finding his way as a coach in New England in 2024. He was figuring out what works for him and what doesn't work. That usually means going through some trial and error. 

Mayo has been heavily criticized for some of his decisions during his lone season in New England (such as hanging out with players on the team plane instead of watching film with assistants). I think that criticism is unfair because, again, Mayo was finding his footing as a coach without being in Belichick's shadow for the first time in his pro career. The fact that Mayo had only experienced a Belichick-led staff meant there were a lot of coaching styles that the former Vol hadn't seen in action. Mayo wasn't just learning how to be a head coach on the job, he was learning how to be the best version of himself on the job, outside of the Belichick-influence. 

Vrabel, meanwhile, played for two different NFL franchises aside from the Patriots. And then he coached at Ohio State under Urban Meyer before serving as a linebackers coach and defensive coordinator with the Houston Texans for four seasons. Vrabel then spent six seasons as the head coach of the Titans, where he went through some highs (the 2019 playoffs) and some lows (the last two years of his time there). Vrabel is undoubtedly better equipped at this point to be a head coach because of all those different experiences, which is what he pointed out on Monday. 

Now, that doesn't mean that Vrabel is smarter than Mayo for taking that path. That's just how it worked out for Vrabel. 

Mayo's situation was different. He spent his playing career with the team that drafted him. And when he became an assistant coach in 2019, he landed in New England, where he became a well-respected coach that quickly developed into a head coaching candidate. 

If anyone is to blame for Mayo not having different experiences as a coach, it's Patriots owner Robert Kraft. 

Instead of letting Mayo explore other opportunities, Kraft promised the former Tennessee linebacker that he'd be the head coach in New England after Belichick. 

If you're Mayo, it's almost impossible to turn down that situation. NFL head coaching jobs are incredibly hard to come by. 

There are nearly 2,000 assistant coaches at the NFL and FBS level. Nearly all of them have probably dreamed of being an NFL head coach at some point. But there are only 32 NFL head coaching jobs. You don't pass up a promised head coaching gig if you're Mayo because you don't know if another head coaching offer will ever come along. 

Kraft essentially boxed Mayo into a situation where he was destined to fail. All because Kraft was a fan of Mayo and he didn't want him to escape the organization. (Until Kraft found someone he liked better…sounds kinda toxic, right?)

I still believe Mayo can be a star NFL head coach. I hope he gets the opportunity to prove that. But unfortunately, he's going to have to overcome being a one-and-done coach and prove himself all over again as a coaching commodity before he gets that chance. 

The good news is that Mayo is still just 38 years old. And I think he'll be a better coach because he went through this experience in New England. It's just unfortunate that this is how Mayo's first head coaching job ended. Ultimately, Mayo has to take the blame for how the Patriots' season went in 2024. But if you look at Vrabel's comments on Monday, you'll see that it's not really Mayo's fault that he "failed" in New England. 

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