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Did Bill Belichick play a role in Jerod Mayo's failure as Patriots HC?
Long before New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft parted ways with legendary head coach Bill Belichick in January 2024, Kraft set up a succession plan that involved then-linebackers coach Jerod Mayo eventually serving as Belichick's replacement.
Kraft dismissed Mayo earlier this week after a 4-13 season. For a piece published Thursday, Chad Graff of The Athletic detailed how Kraft's original strategy first fell apart during the 2023 campaign that the Patriots also finished at 4-13.
"The Patriots started the season 1-5 and 2-10," Graff explained. "Belichick, always an insular coach, further withdrew during that season amid his team’s struggles, according to team sources with knowledge of the situation. He stopped talking altogether to multiple members of his already small coaching staff, cutting off communication with anyone perceived to be less than entirely loyal to him. His relationship with Kraft was already tense as the pressure grew on the owner to make a change after another bad season following the departure of Tom Brady (as a free agent in 2020). Belichick’s tight circle shrunk even more. Along the way, the mentorship that was supposed to occur between Belichick and Mayo never happened."
Mayo, 38, played for the Patriots from 2008-15 and joined Belichick's staff in 2019. Belichick seemingly offered Mayo no real help from last winter through Week 18 of this season regarding how to be a head coach at the highest level, and the two even got into somewhat of a war of words after Mayo said New England was "a soft football team" following a loss.
"When Mayo needed mentorship because he wasn’t fully prepared for the gig," Graff noted, "he didn’t have anyone to lean on because his network of other coaches was so small after only ever playing and working for Belichick and the Patriots."
Of course, it also didn't help that Mayo was asked to coach one of the league's worst overall rosters.
Even before Kraft showed Mayo the door, numerous articles and stories produced throughout the second half of the 2024 season named Patriots Hall of Famer and one-time AP Coach of the Year Mike Vrabel as a top candidate for the New England job. Graff wrote that Vrabel's obvious interest in potentially returning to the Patriots was "the elephant in the room," and some think Kraft could hire Vrabel as soon as Thursday or Friday.
"Honestly, Jerod is a good guy. I just don’t think he was ready for all the big decisions and discipline and focus the job takes," a Patriots source told Graff about Mayo's one season in charge.
More must-reads:
- Bill Belichick discusses departure from Patriots, firing of Jerod Mayo
- NFL insiders accuse Patriots of 'sham' interviews ahead of Mike Vrabel meeting
- The 'AP NFL Coach of the Year Award' quiz
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Kirk Cousins makes notable leadership move after Falcons practice
Kirk Cousins might be relegated to the job of backup quarterback, but he is showing veteran leadership to his Atlanta Falcons teammates. Following Sunday's practice, Cousins pulled aside rookie defensive end James Pearce to encourage the first-round pick after his fourth practice in the league at Flowery Branch, Georgia. "QB Kirk Cousins pulled aside Pearce after practice to compliment him on a pass batted down," wrote Marc Raimondi of ESPN. Cousins reportedly had a solid day of practice on Sunday, going 7-of-12 passing against the first-team unit. If Cousins wants out of Atlanta, he's not showing it at practice. The four-time Pro Bowl quarterback is competing on the field and being a good teammate around the facility. Cousins' actions on the field backed up what Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot praised Cousins for before the team's practice on Sunday. “Outside, it's a lot more of a deal than it is in the building,” Fontenot said to the media about the idea of friction between the Falcons and Cousins, per video from D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “He shows up, he does his job, just like anybody ... We've gotta build the best 70-man roster so we can go win games. "That's what we're focused on, and Kirk, just like all the other players, is focused on coming in here and doing their job. That's what he's been doing." Fontenot didn't dismiss the idea that Atlanta would trade Cousins before the season. He said the Falcons will do whatever it takes to make the team better, but stressed that Cousins has been a professional throughout the process of being replaced by Michael Penix Jr., a first-round pick from the 2024 draft. “In terms of making moves, whether it's trades or acquiring players, we're always looking at those factors," Fontenot said. "We're gonna do whatever we can do to make this team the best it can possibly be. But he's been a great professional, and he's handled himself well.” Cousins is coming to work in a manner that will make another owner want to take a chance on the veteran quarterback. That could be one of his best-selling points before he plays in his 13th season in the league.
Phillies star confronted MLB commissioner in team clubhouse
Throughout the season, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred visits all 30 team clubhouses in an attempt to strengthen his relationship with the players. But when Manfred visited the Philadelphia Phillies last week, he did anything but strengthen his relations, at least not with Phillies star Bryce Harper. As reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan, Harper wasn't a fan of a conversation that seemed to be heading toward the possibility of implementing a salary cap in the game. Harper stood nose to nose with Manfred, telling him, "If you want to speak about that, you can get the [expletive] out of our clubhouse." Passan's report says that Manfred reportedly responded that he was "not going to get the [expletive] out of here." Manfred's main source of argument comes from his view that it's an important issue to discuss and has a direct impact on the game of baseball. Nick Castellanos, who's been known to have a fiery side of personality himself, helped to mediate the situation by saying, "I have more questions" to Manfred. Because the meeting continued, things settled down, and eventually, Manfred and Harper shook hands. Though Harper did not answer phone calls from Manfred the next day. "It was pretty intense, definitely passionate. Both of 'em. The commissioner giving it back to Bryce and Bryce giving it back to the commissioner. That's Harp. He's been doing this since he was 15-years-old," Castellanos told ESPN. Both Harper and Manfred declined to comment to ESPN on the matter. Manfred is certainly in a difficult spot with players themselves against a salary cap, as well as the MLB Players Association, which is adamantly against it. But some team owners are for it, most notably Baltimore Orioles owner David Rubenstein, who purchased the club in August 2024. It's certainly worth noting that the 1994 players' strike was a result of the league's effort to move to a salary-cap system. That is the worst-case scenario for MLB. And it seems to stress out Manfred. "Rob seems to be in a pretty desperate place on how important it is to get this salary cap," Castellanos added in his comments to ESPN, "because he's floating the word lockout two years in advance of our collective bargaining agreement [expiration]. That's nothing to throw around. That's the same thing as me in a marriage saying, 'I think divorce is a possibility. It's probably going to happen.' You don't just say those things." It's also important to note that Harper is a client of baseball super agent Scott Boras, and Castellanos is a former Boras client who now represents himself. Boras is known for bargaining for a ton of money for his clients, so that may provide one explanation of many for why Harper would be so against the discussion. It seems the only thing all parties can agree on is that no one wants a work stoppage in Major League Baseball. But that might just be where the agreements end.
Top moments from 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame inductions
The 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame class had its day in Cooperstown on Sunday. This year's class included Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, who were elected by the eligible voters from the Baseball Writer's Association of America, and Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were elected by the Classic Baseball Era Committee. Here are some of the top highlights from Sunday's induction speeches. Dave Parker's son reads poem written by Hall of Fame father Parker's induction into the Hall of Fame was long overdue, and he sadly did not have the opportunity to enjoy the moment of seeing his name in the Hall of Fame as he died June 28. That left his speech in the hands of his son, Dave Parker II, who read a poem written by his dad. Parker spent the majority of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates where he was an MVP winner, two-time batting champion and World Series champion with the 1979 "We Are Family" team. Dick Allen's wife remembers his kindness Allen was the other veterans committee inductee, and his widow, Willa Allen, spent the majority of her speech remember the kindness of Allen off the field as much as his ability on the field. Allen is going into the Hall of Fame as a Phillie but won the 1972 American League MVP with the Chicago White Sox. He led the league in OPS four times and was the 1964 National League Rookie of the Year. A reminder that Billy Wagner wasn't naturally left-handed Being left-handed is a huge advantage (and money-maker) for pitchers, and Wagner was one of the most dominant left-handed relief pitchers to ever step onto a mound in the big leagues. But he wasn't always left-handed. Wagner was a natural-born right-handed person but taught himself how to throw left-handed after fracturing his right arm twice as a kid. It led to quite a career. Wagner made a name for himself with the Houston Astros but also spent years with the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox. CC Sabathia takes playful dig at Ichiro Sabathia accomplished a ton in his 19-year big league career. He won 251 games, won the 2007 American League Cy Young Award, was the 2009 ALCS MVP and a World Series champion. He still has apparently not gotten over the one individual award he did not win — the 2001 American League Rookie of the Year Award, which went to fellow 2025 inductee Ichiro. Sabathia made sure to make a playful dig at that. Sabathia was the only American League rookie outside of Ichiro — who also won the American League MVP that year — to get a first-place vote. He received one. The others all went to Ichiro. Ichiro stole the show Ichiro stole 509 bases in his Hall of Fame career, and on Sunday, he added one more steal to his list of accomplishments by absolutely stealing the show at Cooperstown. He delivered two of the best lines of the day, first by calling out the one lone writer who did not vote for him, keeping him from being just the second unanimous Hall of Fame inductee ever (after Mariano Rivera). His best line of the day, however, might have been when he referenced his brief time as a member of the Miami Marlins toward the end of his career. Ichiro played 14 of his 19 seasons with the Seattle Mariners while also spending time with the Marlins and Yankees.
Red Sox Insider Hints At Reunion With Phillies $79 Million Superstar
The Boston Red Sox, who haven't made the playoffs since 2021, recently got a taste of how the last four years could have gone. During Boston's nine-game stretch after the All-Star break against top National League contenders, one slugger stood out above the rest. Philadelphia Phillies star Kyle Schwarber pumped long home runs against Red Sox pitching on back-to-back nights, helping take two of three from his former team. Schwarber was phenomenal for the Red Sox for the two months he was there, posting a .957 OPS in 41 games and hitting some memorable playoff home runs as well. But there was no significant push from Boston's end to bring him back in free agency, so he signed a four-year, $79 million contract with the Phillies. That's been great for the Phillies and Schwarber, but the Red Sox have gotten far less production out of their designated hitter slot in that time span. And now that Schwarber is headed back to the open market, one Red Sox insider thinks Boston has an opportunity to right what once went wrong. On Sunday, Sean McAdam of MassLive encouraged the Red Sox to make more of an effort to bring Schwarber back to Boston in free agency the second time around. "We’re getting ahead of ourselves, of course, but there would be worse moves the Red Sox could make this winter than to sign free agent DH Kyle Schwarber," wrote McAdam. "To be sure, it would be an expensive investment, especially when you consider that they would have to eat most if not all of Masataka Yoshida’s remaining salary to make it work roster-wise." Yoshida is owed over $37 million over the next two seasons, but he and Schwarber are virtually the same age, and there's no question who the Red Sox would rather have DHing. Schwarber's 36 home runs this year are more than Yoshida has had in his entire big-league career, and as a matter of fact, only New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge has hit more home runs than the Phillies' slugger in the last four seasons. Manager Alex Cora also dropped a hint last week about the potential for a Schwarber reunion. If there's any way for Boston to make it happen financially, they should.
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