Standing in the same room Jerod Mayo delivered his final remarks as the Patriots’ head coach, Robert Kraft confessed.

He confessed to a private audience Monday morning at 11:30, standing in the void he had created by firing Mayo less than 24 hours earlier. Patriots players and coaches sat around this large, windowless auditorium inside Gillette Stadium where they had convened dozens of times before. The doors to their last team meeting of the season were closed.

Two sources inside the room said Kraft admitted he had rushed to hire Mayo. Kraft intimated he had set Mayo up to fail, and by extension his players and the franchise. Kraft also promised to learn from his mistake in the coming days, when he would search for his third head coach in as many years and begin again.

As the octogenarian owner spoke, a motivational slogan painted in blue and red block letters on a nearby wall read: Bigger Than Me.

This was the story of Mayo’s tenure.

Several sources across all levels of the Patriots’ football operations spoke to the Herald on the condition of anonymity to unpack a lost 2024 campaign. Some described a cocksure rookie coach who couldn’t get his arms around the job and majored in mixed messages.

“He kept talking about these North Stars,” a team source said. “And all of us in the building were like, ‘What are they? Can you share them with us? What’s the goal? What’s the vision here?’”

Others painted a support staff that couldn’t support Mayo well enough. A few stood by Mayo completely, insisting all he needed was more time. But all sources agreed the Patriots’ poor roster talent chiefly explained why the team struggled, even by the standards of a rebuild.

“If you don’t have talent, then there’s really nothing else,” one source said.

However, most sources felt the Patriots’ problems also multiplied by mid-December due to a lack of accountability and preventable issues stemming from poor culture and coaching.

“Discipline is mandatory when you have a young team, so we don’t try to cut corners or slip through the cracks and stuff like that,” a veteran player said. “And I feel like that’s really what happened (with Mayo).”

Ninety minutes after addressing the team Monday morning, Kraft told reporters he fired Mayo because the Patriots’ performance over the last month of the season had crossed a line. A source familiar with Kraft’s thinking believes had the Patriots flipped one of their December blowout losses to Arizona and later the Chargers, Mayo might have kept his job. Instead, Kraft cut ties, describing the situation as “untenable.”

It took just a few games and weeks to change his mind, and turn the franchise over again.

“I think in the end, a lot of the NFL comes down to the decisions of 80-whatever year old men who don’t really know what’s happening from a football perspective,” one staffer said. “There’s no board to answer to or anything. We’re in a unique business.”

Foxboro, MA -New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft speaks at Gillette Stadium (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Yet losing, as it always is, was a symptom for the Patriots; a product of weak infrastructure, ineffective leadership and poor habits that still remained even after ownership triggered a regime change less than a year earlier. Organizational rot.

“Is Jerod ultimately at fault? Yes, it’s his football team,” a team source said. “But a business doesn’t collapse because of one person.”

“(Mayo) never had a chance,” added an AFC executive. “(He) wasn’t ready, (his) staff was average, roster sucked. (He) wasn’t given a shot to grow and learn from his mistakes.”

In 2024, losing revealed not the slipping grip of an all-time great coach, but the ongoing fall of the NFL’s once premier franchise; a fall which fed a growing sense inside the facility that even as Mayo proved himself unready, the Patriots’ problems were bigger than him.

Not enough, not yet, not here

On Dec. 28, Rhamondre Stevenson trotted into the huddle for the Patriots’ first possession in their final home game of 2024. A puzzled fan base looked on.

In the leadup to kickoff, Mayo had told the national television broadcast and the Patriots’ local radio team Stevenson would be benched after fumbling seven times. According to sources, Mayo had told offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt to sit Stevenson shortly before the game but that order, which was supposed to be relayed to running backs coach Taylor Embree, failed to reach Stevenson.

Mayo covered for Van Pelt later, telling reporters it was a “coach’s decision.” The two maintained a strong working relationship, according to a source, with Van Pelt effectively operating as the head coach of the offense. Van Pelt’s organization skills, sources said, kept the staff together, even though his play-calling rightfully came under fire from fans, media and ownership.

“(The coaches) were all kind of getting their reps,” a team source said.

Drake Maye credits maligned Pariots OC Alex Van Pelt for his development

Van Pelt was the last candidate to interview for Mayo’s offensive coordinator job last January. Other candidates left their meetings unimpressed by the Patriots’ questions and process, per sources. After he was hired, the Patriots were slow to fill out their staff below Van Pelt and leaned heavily on executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf to find new assistants.

By the end, the offensive staff wasn’t a far cry from the disconnected, hodgepodge group of coaches from 2023 who oversaw an offense worth fewer than 14 points per game.

Among the new hires was rookie offensive line coach Scott Peters, who was passed over for a promotion in Cleveland last offseason, and first-year wide receivers coach Tyler Hughes. The players in their position groups became sources of frustration for teammates and front-office members alike, per sources. Multiple players complained about the offensive line to the Herald during the season, when injuries and poor performance forced the Patriots to field 10 different starting lineups.

Offensive Line coach Scott Peters speaks to the media as the Patriots take practice at Gillette on Aug. 22. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

Even Mayo vented about the line’s constant shuffling in early November saying, “If I’m getting very honest, like, it’s been frustrating throughout the year, as far as the different combinations we’ve had to work with.”

Peters, in his next media availability, addressed Mayo’s comments by saying: “Well, I don’t spend time getting frustrated. We spend time looking for solutions.”

Solutions were hard to come by in the receivers room, which Hughes led after serving as an offensive analyst at the University of Washington in 2023, a low-level Patriots assistant from 2020-22, a Division II head coach in North Dakota and high school coach in Utah.

The wide receivers often spoke loudest, from post-game criticisms of play-calling to complaints about targets. Veteran K.J. Osborn, who sources said believed as far back as October he was going to get traded, hinted to the media he was on his way out more than a month before he was finally waived on Dec. 10.

Yet no commentary spoke louder than what Wolf told FOX Sports last week about draft picks Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker.“I would say that I guess personally, what I was expecting is maybe a little bit more internal development, which is a good lesson certainly heading into next year. And that you can’t always rely on that,” Wolf said. “The rookie receivers didn’t have it really that much for us.”

Others in the organization disagreed with Wolf’s assessment.

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Kelee Ringo #22 keeps New England Patriots wide receiver Javon Baker #6 from making a reception during the first half of the NFL pre-season game. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

“Sometimes like when people say, ‘Well, how come those two didn’t develop?’ It wasn’t like they weren’t developing,” a team source said. “They just weren’t where they needed to be … Some guys were just (better).”

But occasionally, the receivers didn’t even show up. Two days before getting waived on Nov. 16, former second-round pick Tyquan Thornton was late to the facility and didn’t practice, according to sources, who added Thornton had checked out mentally after it was clear he wouldn’t play anymore.

Sources also confirmed Baker missed bedcheck the night before the Patriots’ mid-October game in London, something Mayo later denied. Come kickoff, Baker was inactive.

“The issue was (Baker) didn’t understand why,” a team source said. “He was intending to be back on time, but he wasn’t. For him, he wasn’t in the wrong, because he was trying to be back on time.”

The Jaguars walloped the Pats 32-16 that day, sending them to their first six-game losing streak of the year. Polk dropped a critical two-point conversion in the fourth quarter and disappeared for the rest of the season, catching only two passes and more criticism.

“He was frustrated because he’s a competitor and he wants to get on the field,” one staffer said, “and maybe didn’t see a way to do that.”

Jacksonville Jaguars safety Andre Cisco (5) deflects a pass intended for New England Patriots wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk (1) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in London. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

But the story in London became the Patriots’ defense; Mayo’s former pride and joy steamrolled for 171 rushing yards by a Jacksonville team walking a parallel path to a new head coach and top-5 draft pick. Veteran defenders had already pointed fingers through the media for weeks, a habit that would continue through the season.

In private, some on-looking staff members were concerned the defense had become too collaborative under rookie coordinator DeMarcus Covington, who implemented new concepts from new defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery and outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins.

Even with holdover assistants Brian Belichick and Mike Pellegrino, plus franchise great Dont’a Hightower working as the first-year inside linebackers coach, this was no longer a Belichick defense; by design or results.

One team source felt had Mayo become more involved, he may not have been collaborative whatsoever.

“To all of the people saying he needed an experienced staff around him to help him find the right answers and find solutions, I don’t know if that would have helped,” the source said. “I don’t know if he actually would have listened to what they were gonna say.”

Multiple staffers disagreed with this sentiment, saying Mayo listened as an assistant and head coach.

What Patriots are saying is causing defense to lag behind offense in rebuild

But the source continued, describing past interactions Mayo had with staff members by saying: “He would ask anyone, ‘what do you think is the answer here? What do you think of this problem, what can we do to solve this?’ And he would listen to the person give their answer and then say something to the effect of, ‘Well, let me tell you why you’re wrong.’ ”

Speaking on the defense, which finished ranked 30th by DVOA, another team source admitted: “The coaching obviously could have been better.”

“DeMarcus is a really good defensive line coach, and it was a downgrade going from him to Montgomery. DeMarcus just isn’t a good defensive coordinator yet,” one Patriots staffer said. “Hopefully he will one day.”

One day, but not here.

Culture cracking

On July 31, the Patriots ran.

Mayo sent his entire offense for a lap after missing a substitution in a team drill during their sixth training camp practice together. It was the second straight day Mayo had blown his whistle in disgust and called for players and coaches to run as punishment.

A week earlier, Mayo explained why players would continue to run laps if they committed penalties in practice as the Patriots had long done under Belichick.

“Because penalties, turnovers, all those things kill you,” he said.

Then, they did.

Patriots head Coach Jerod Mayo on the field during training camp. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

En route to another 4-13 record, the Patriots posted the NFL’s fifth-worst turnover differential and finished as the 11th-most penalized team in the league this season. Before training camp ended, players stopped running laps after every penalty despite Mayo’s pledge. Inconsistency festered slowly, as did doubts about the team’s future in distant corners of football operations.

“It felt like (Mayo)’s personality for the first six months was not being Bill (Belichick). Through OTAs, training camp, some players started to test where the line was going to be. They just kept moving over where they thought the line was, but he never came in and said, ‘OK, that’s enough. That was the line,’” a team source said.

“It just kept getting further away from a happy medium that should have existed between how tight Bill kept things and where they ended up.”

Still, training camp was viewed as a win for Mayo, who veterans said ran more grueling practices than Belichick had in recent seasons. The Patriots won their first game at Cincinnati, the franchise’s biggest upset in eight years, and marched with fresh hope. Mayo, veterans believed, was stepping into his own as a head coach, the payoff of pursuing personal relationships with football excellence.

New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo, right, celebrates with his team at the end of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Cincinnati. The Patriots won 16-10. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

“I think the guys appreciated that, for the most part. I think he gave his coaches autonomy to work and trusted them to do their job,” one staffer said. “And I think those are signs of good leadership and good head coaches.”

Mayo’s comments to the media the Monday morning after that win in Cincinnati, however, set off alarm bells. On WEEI, he guaranteed the Patriots would always have a good run defense and dared opponents to stop their running game. During a video conference with reporters, he insisted concerns about the team’s struggling offensive line were “overblown.”

“After we won, (Mayo) was the happiest guy, bouncing off the walls during the week. The happiest guy in the world,” one staffer remembered. “And after we lost, it was like someone shot his dog.”

The source continued: “Meanwhile, most of us are in there watching the tape (of the Bengals game), and it’s like, ‘Oh s—.’ We were so lucky to win this game.’ I don’t know if he watched the tape before taking that victory lap. We really lucked out there and obviously the rest of the season bore that out.”

Soon enough, the victory laps stopped, as did any comparisons or references to Belichick. Losing took hold.

“We figured we could probably win some good games if we all played the right way, did things the right way. We could probably have some success. And then obviously that eroded,” a team source said, “It got away from us, I would say, kind of after (Week 2).”

New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson can’t make a catch in the end zone during the second quarter of a game against Seattle at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

“I don’t feel like practices were all that different, but when Bill spotted something we weren’t doing well, he would address it to the whole team and we would address it on the field,” one veteran player remembered. “That didn’t really happen as much later on.”

Mayo’s overarching goal was to implement a player-led culture powered by its captains. But by Week 6, four captains – David Andrews, Jacoby Brisssett, Jabrill Peppers and Ja’Whaun Bentley – had all been sidelined. That void allowed veterans less suited for leadership roles to step in and become more vocal, while the rest of the roster leaked talent with each passing injury.

“We’ve got guys who can’t get on the field because they can’t get lined up. Obviously, yeah, that’s the coaches’ job, too,” another source began, “but how many times can you tell a guy where to line up?”

A weakened team had now lost its way.

“You get selfish guys like that being the ‘leaders,’ or at least influencers within the locker room,” one staffer said. “It’s s—y.”

An injured Bentley called out players and coaches for their professionalism and work ethic during one midseason meeting. The Patriots won their next game, edging out the Jets 25-22.

But the week after, they fell to 2-7, then 3-10 and later 3-13, winning just a third of their one-possession games..

“At a certain point, it’s like, I don’t care what you’re saying, coach,” one player admitted. “It’s just hard to get to us if they’re not seeing any results.”

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye pushes away Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. during the second half of an NFL game Saturday in Foxboro. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Days after Mayo and the team closed a 40-7 blowout loss to the Chargers under a cascade of boos and chants calling for his dismissal, linebacker Jahlani Tavai defended his head coach by telling fans to know their place in a morning radio interview. That afternoon, Tavai stood by his tone-deaf comments while speaking with reporters, but apologized to anyone he may have offended.

Two days later, in the Patriots’ season finale, Tavai sat for the entire first quarter against Buffalo. Mayo declined to explain why post-game. A rumor spread inside the building that ownership had ordered Tavai to be benched for his comments that incited an already angry fan base.

“That’s between me and the higher-ups and coaches,” Tavai said after the game. “That’s in-house.”

Perhaps another line had been crossed.

“I think there’s probably some players that need to look at themselves and take more accountability than they did during the season,” a source said.

At least two veterans identified the Patriots’ culture as problematic while cleaning out their lockers on Monday. Though one, pointedly, included members of the organization outside the locker room.

“We’ve got to build a culture and get back to that winning culture,” Andrews said. “That’s a big thing.”“(It’s) everybody being accountable – everybody. Players, coaches, everybody,” defensive lineman Davon Godchaux said. “If we can do that, things will start moving forward. Until then, we have a long journey.”

New England Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Up in the front office, culture concerns seemed related to Wolf’s assessment of his leadership shortly before the season. That self-scouting report proved prophetic.

In September, Wolf told the Herald during an interview: “I would say just being a little bit more aggressive with the (front-office) staff. And when I say aggressive, it’s just making sure that they know exactly what the expectation is and exactly what it is that I want.”

One team source said of the de facto GM: “I think he works well with (the staff), maybe to a fault. Listens too much, and doesn’t put his foot down as the top executive often enough.”

Wolf is now co-leading the search for Mayo’s replacement, something one staffer claimed to have foreseen weeks before Kraft made the call.

“We all saw the issues right away and were hoping Jerod would grow into the role and button things up a little bit and just get better,” the staffer said.

When did they lose hope?

“Probably by November, December,” he said. “(It) just wasn’t going to happen.”

A new vision

Foxboro, MA -New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft speaks at Gillette Stadium (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

On Jan. 5, at 5:17 p.m., the news broke.Mayo was gone.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter posted on the social media platform X/Twitter the Patriots had fired their rookie coach after less than a year. This is how Mayo’s players and assistants learned Kraft had thrust them again into the unknown.

Anger followed for some. Sadness for others.

“How it went down, I felt that was pretty unnecessary. Just do it the next day, let him talk to the team,” one longtime Patriot said. “But it’s their decision, and they have the right to do it however they want.”

Certain members of the organization admitted to feeling relief, after living with the possibility of Mayo’s firing for weeks; a fear that grew while the Patriots’ on-field performance had regressed.

Schefter’s pregame report Sunday, where he stated he was “leaning out” on Mayo’s future in New England, tipped off some high-ranking members about what was to come. Four hours later, the Patriots won, and their head coach lost.

Within two days of firing the only Black head coach in franchise history, Kraft conducted two in-person interviews with minority head-coaching candidates who haven’t worked in the NFL since 2022. Doing so satisfied the league’s Rooney Rule and cleared a path for ownership to hire its top candidate, ex-Titans coach and former Patriots player Mike Vrabel, as soon as Thursday.

Multiple team sources disproved ownership’s clear flouting of Rooney Rule, disrespecting the process and declining to gather intel from external coaching candidates about how their organizations operate and their visions for how the Patriots could run.

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“Wild,” one said. “Just wild.”

And what of Kraft’s vision?

The Patriots have fallen behind the modern NFL, with a tiny analytics department, a non-existent sports science staff and the worst-rated weight room in pro football. Just a year ago, their own players ranked the organization 29th out of 32, per the NFLPA’s annual survey on working conditions.

Kraft’s last plan, laid years in advance, took 11 months to rip apart. The Patriots haven’t won a playoff game since Tom Brady’s departure in 2020, piling up a record of 33-52.

And then there’s this: “I think we have certainly one of the worst rosters in the NFL,” a team source said. “If not the worst.”

The Patriots Way is dead. Gone. Gone with Brady, gone with Belichick and now each of their successors. Only Kraft remains.

Who are the Patriots now?

What will they become?