Report: New England Patriots expect Jerod Mayo return as head coach in 2025

The New England Patriots are expected to retain Jerod Mayo as the head coach going into the 2025 season, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport.

Mayo has struggled in his first season as head coach with the Patriots. It even got to a point where some pondered if Robert Kraft would contemplate a change after just one season.

However, Mayo’s future seems secure, at least for 2025.

“Let’s focus in on Patriots coach Jarod Mayo, obviously the Patriots play today,” Rapoport began. “We saw a really strong showing last week from the Patriots taking the Buffalo Bills to the brink. Here is my understanding guys of where drought Mayo stands with the Patriots. They came into the season knowing and believing he was going to be their leader for the future. They also knew that as a team, just based on the lack of talent that they had, they knew it would take some time. 

“From my understanding, this is something I reported on nfl.com with Tom earlier this morning. Nothing has caused the Patriots to come off that. Obviously, there have been challenges with the Patriots this season. No doubt about that. Could potentially see some staff changes focus, maybe on offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. We’ll see where they end up going with that decision. But my understanding, Jarod Mayo heading into this off season: safe guys.”

New England is 3-12 in Mayo’s first year with not much to show for it. However, the Patriots might have something in first round pick Drake Maye at QB.

Now, it’s about surrounding him with protection and talent. They’ll be up against it Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET when hosting the Los Angeles Chargers.

While Mayo’s been criticized, the players have staunchly defended him. Mayo was even asked about that leading into this game.“Look, I understand the question. It’s a great question,” Mayo said. “That’s more of an after-the-season type of reflection point for me, personally. I appreciate the players and wanting to go out there and play hard every single day. I know the record sometimes is hard. When your record is like this, to go out here and play on a down-after-down basis, The guys have been doing that.”