Jerod Mayo Out: 12 Potential Candidates to Become the Next Head Coach of the New England Patriots

Jerod Mayo Fired

After one heck of a disastrous season, the New England Patriots have fired head coach Jerod Mayo.

The former Patriot player-turned-head coach was at the helm for just one season, a season that saw New England completely rudderless and seemingly always heading toward an iceberg.

It was clear early on that it was going to be a struggle for Mayo, but I'm not sure anyone expected it to be this bad. The combination of poor play, questionable coaching, locker room issues, and leadership struggles was just too much for Mayo to overcome. Now, for the second consecutive year, the Patriots are looking for a new head coach.

Top Candidates to Replace Jerod Mayo: Who Will Lead the Patriots Next?

So, where does New England go from here? The team will have plenty of options.

The most likely candidate is former Patriots player Mike Vrabel, who was fired from the Tennessee Titans due to an apparent power struggle with the front office last year. Vrabel had a lot of success during his career with Tennessee, including three playoff trips. However, his last two seasons had been a slog, primarily dealing with major quarterback issues.

The other top candidates will likely be a pair of Detroit Lions coaches (boy, have times changed). Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson are two of the hottest future coaching names in the league, so expect them to get a lot of attention.

Other Potential New England Coaching Candidates

While those three might be the leaders in the clubhouse, there are certainly plenty of other fish in the sea. Below, you can see many of those names that might be candidates for the job, including a few with experience either as players or coaches in New England. And yes, that does include a few former head coaches.

Best of luck to Jerod Mayo in the future. Hopefully, he can learn from this and get another opportunity somewhere else.