In the wake of New England’s decision to fire Mayo on Sunday following a disastrous 4-13 campaign, The Athletic reported Wednesday how the former linebacker-turned-coach “didn’t offer” Steve Belichick, the son of former head coach Bill Belichick, “the chance to continue calling plays” on defense as he had done in previous years.

North Carolina coach Bill Belichick was asked to weigh in on the New England Patriots firing his successor, Jerod Mayo, after only one season as head coach when appearing on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday. The news of Mayo’s firing came down immediately after the team’s 23-16 win over the Buffalo Bills in the regular season finale on Sunday.

The Patriots’ decision to fire Jerod Mayo just over an hour after the 2024 regular season wrapped has led to several strong reactions from former Patriots players — many of whom believe that the first-year head coach was put in a bad spot by Robert Kraft and Eliot Wolf.