Patriots veteran kicks former head coach Jerod Mayo while he's down with a very telling statement

Former Tennessee Vols linebacker Jerod Mayo spent only one season as the New England Patriots head coach, and you can see why at this point. Replacing Bill Belichick would always be tough, and the transition certainly didn't go as Mayo expected. He was fired after the season, and the Patriots decided to hire an experienced head coach in Mike Vrabel.

Entering his third year in the NFL, edge defender Keion White shared some Strong words about the situation when talking to the media during mandatory minicamp.

"Now, I feel like I have a coach," White said, referring to Vrabel, as transcribed by the Boston Globe. "I like Mike. He leads with work. I can respect that. It's similar to Bill (Belichick), just with a younger face. I think we all know how I feel about that, I liked him."

White didn't mention Mayo by name, but you can see that the locker room was fully in favor of last year's coach — even though there was some level of support.

"It's comforting to know that you have a hard-ass at the helm," White added, "who will not be afraid to fistfight with you in a back alley."

The Patriots had a unique transition from Bill Belichick to Jerod Mayo, who spent his first five coaching seasons as the inside linebackers coach under Belichick. Mayo had language in his contract saying that he would be the successor once Belichick was out, so the Patriots didn't even have a normal and complete coaching search. Mayo has never been a coordinator.

New England finished last season with a 4-13 record, last place in the AFC East. Mike Vrabel, a former Tennessee Titans head coach, got hired to replace him. The new coach brough Josh McDaniels back as the offensive coordinator and chose long-time defensive line coach Terrell Williams as his defensive coordinator.

Keion White, a second-round pick two years ago, showed some signs of improvement in 2024 despite what seemed like internal issues for him. He finished last season with 45 pressures, five sacks, and a good 76.7 pass rush grade by PFF.