Patriots decided to move on from Bill Belichick long ago

The New England Patriots were once considered to be the biggest powerhouse in the National Football League. They dominated the game for two decades, with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick becoming the most feared and respected tandem in the gridiron.

As you may know by now, a lot has happened since, and the Patriots have been a borderline playoff team since Brady left. They hit a new low this season, winning just three out of 13 games thus far and looking out of sorts more often than not.

That has led to plenty of speculation regarding Bill Belichick’s future with the team, not to mention some people have added fuel to the fire of the ‘greatest coach of all time’ debate.

Notably, a report by NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran states that Belichick’s time in Foxboro is coming to an end. Apparently, Robert Kraft made the decision following their loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Germany.

Belichick Won’t Be Back Next Season

“When they came out of [the 10-6 loss to the Colts on Nov. 12 in] Germany, conversations I had that week made it very clear that a decision was made,” said Curran. “They were going to play out the string, and at the end of the year, there would be a parting of the ways for a variety of reasons.”

The Patriots failed to bounce back from that loss, and not even taking down the Pittsburgh Steelers in primetime wasn’t enough for Kraft to change his mind about that.

“It had gone too far. The Germany game. The Commanders game. The Saints game. All huge, marquee games. And then there was the Chargers game after that,” Curran added. “Just because they won last week in Pittsburgh in primetime, I don’t think it quells anything.”

Jerod Mayo Admits Desire To Coach Patriots

So, who’s going to take over? All signs point to formre linebacker and assistant coach Jerod Mayo. Mayo turned down several head coaching interviews in the offseason, and the team reportedly signed him to a contract extension that would keep him there for a while. However, when asked about it, he gave a Belichick-ish answer:

“You’ve been here long enough,” Mayo told the media. “You already — I bet you can say the answer that I’m about to give you. We’re 100 percent focused on the Chiefs. And you know, I only try to control the controllables, and that’s out of my control.”

Even so, Mayo wound up admitting that he, indeed, wants to be a head coach and talked about how honored he’d feel if he were to get that opportunity with the Patriots:

“Hopefully, as you guys all know, one day I want to be a head coach,” Mayo admitted. “Where that is, I don’t know. But at the same time, I would say I have a lot of love for New England. I have a lot of love for the fans; the people around the building. And you know, my family; they love it here as well. So that would be great if I could stay here and continue to progress throughout my career, but we’ll see.”

Belichick just signed a contract extension, so any team that wants him would most likely have to trade for him. That’s assuming he’s not looking forward to retirement or at least getting a break from coaching.