Bill Belichick knows his former pupil and New England Patriots successor Jerod Mayo was fired after just one season.
But what’s happening with the team he won six Super Bowls with is the least of his worries at the moment.
During his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Belichick, who was in suit and tie on a recruiting trip for his new gig as the North Carolina Tar Heels head football coach, said the Patriots never gave him a ring as they decided to fire Mayo after going 4-13 this year.
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New North Carolina head football coach Bill Belichick speaks to the crowd at Dean Smith Center during halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between La Salle and North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
“The Patriots’ situation, honestly, I don’t have too much of a comment on that,” Belichick told McAfee and his crew. “Robert Kraft, Jonathan Kraft, Robyn Glaser, they’re the decision makers there.
“Mayo was hand-picked by Robert, but in the end, the decision-making is something they’d have to comment on.
“I really don’t know from the outside looking in. They haven’t called me and asked, so I don’t know.”
PATRIOTS OWNER ROBERT KRAFT SHOULDERS BLAME AFTER FIRING JEROD MAYO: ‘WHOLE SITUATION IS ON ME’
Of course, McAfee had to ask Belichick after his replacement being one-and-done in Foxborough, but a new journey for the legendary coach is well under way as he continues to try and build his first roster at Chapel Hill.
As Belichick mentioned, Kraft hand-picked Mayo, who was already on Belichick’s staff, as the Patriots’ next head coach this past offseason. It came after the team and Belichick mutually parted ways following a 4-13 season, ending a 24-year relationship that brought about arguably football’s best head coach of all-time.
Robert Kraft speaks during the Historic Roots of Black and Jewish Solidarity at 92NY on March 07, 2024 in New York City. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)
Mayo played for the Patriots from 2008-15, winning a Super Bowl with the franchise during the 2014 campaign. Belichick eventually brought him onto his coaching staff in 2019 as a linebackers coach before Kraft made his choice last year.
But Kraft shouldered the blame on Monday when addressing reporters about Mayo, saying that the “whole situation is on me” in regard to his decision to let Mayo go after only one season.
“I feel terrible for Jerod, because I put him in an untenable situation,” Kraft added. “I know that he has all the tools as a head coach to be successful in this league. He just needed more time before taking the job.
“In the end, I’m a fan of this team first, and now I have to go out and find a coach who can get us back to the playoffs and hopefully championships.”
North Carolina Tar Heels new head coach Bill Belichick speaks to the media at Loudermilk Center for Excellence. (Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images)
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While the Patriots embark on yet another head coach search, in which another Belichick former player in Mike Vrabel is expected to be top of mind as Mayo’s replacement, the 72-year-old coach’s inaugural season with the Tar Heels has a large spotlight on it, given this will be Belichick’s first-ever college gig in his illustrious career.
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