FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots fired coach Jerod Mayo on Sunday after one season, beginning another reboot for the franchise just a year after it parted with longtime coach Bill Belichick. Owner Robert Kraft announced the firing in a statement shortly after the Patriots closed their 4-13 season with a 23-16 win over the Buffalo Bills. “After the game I informed Jerod Mayo that he will not be returning as the head coach of the New England Patriots in 2025,” Kraft said. “For me, personally, it was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. Unfortunately, the trajectory of our team’s performances throughout the season did not ascent as I had hoped.” A former Patriots linebacker who worked as an assistant under Belichick, Mayo started the season with a strong endorsement from Kraft. But alongside a coaching staff that featured offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and first-time defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington, he struggled to get the most out of a young roster that included rookie quarterback Drake Maye. The Patriots opened the season with a win in Cincinnati before losing their next six games. They won two of their next three but then closed the season by losing six of seven, missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season. Belichick was 4-13 in his final season in 2023 to cap a 24-year run in New England that included six Super Bowl titles. Mayo played eight seasons for the Patriots and won a Super Bowl during the 2014 season. He took a post-retirement job in corporate America in 2015, then returned to football in 2019 to work with Belichick. He served primarily as the Patriots linebackers coach while developing a strong reputation among players. It made him a rising star in the coaching ranks and he turned down several interviews for head coaching jobs after the 2022 season, instead signing an extension to remain in New England. A week after letting Belichick go, the Patriots hired Mayo as the franchise’s first Black head coach. At age 37, he started the season as the NFL’s second-youngest coach behind the Seattle Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald. From the beginning of his tenure, Mayo tried to establish a culture that differed from Belichick’s often robotic devotion to football — a move that drew praise from players. Yet, it didn’t translate into victories for a team that ranked near the bottom of the NFL offensively and defensively and went 3-6 in one-score games. It’s a stunningly brief tenure for a coach whom Kraft handpicked. Kraft first noticed Mayo’s confidence shortly after the Patriots drafted him with the No. 10 pick out of Tennessee in 2008. “I remember him immediately coming up to me and saying, ‘Kraft and Mayo, they go together pretty well,’” Kraft said during Mayo’s introductory news conference last January. “Sixteen years later, here we are.” When Mayo initially returned to the Patriots in 2019, Kraft noted how he saw an even more skilled leader who hadn’t lost his ability to relate to players. That same year, Mayo accompanied Kraft on a trip to Israel and the men grew closer. Kraft then made an internal prediction. “I knew while observing him in Israel, he was the right person to be the next head coach of the New England Patriots,” Kraft said. “I had that same conviction when I hired Bill Belichick, a decision that many questioned at the time and told me I was making a major error.” But those instincts didn’t pay off, and the 83-year-old Kraft now will begin the process again to find a coach who can get the franchise back on track.