Jerod Mayo was fired as the head coach of the New England Patriots on Sunday, and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith thinks that it was because of racism.
For those of you who might not know, Mayo is a 38-year-old black man who was the first head coach the Patriots had since Bill Belichick left last season. In his first and only season at the helm, Mayo led New England to a paltry 4-13 record in a season in which they barely looked like a competent football team. I would know - I’m a Patriots fan myself who watched the crap show on a weekly basis.
The day after Mayo got canned, Smith went on “First Take” to discuss the news. Unsurprisingly, he channeled his inner race-baiter to imply that this was a move motivated by racism (he does this whenever a black coach loses his job, regardless of the league).
Stephen A. Smith on the Patriots firing Jerod Mayo: "This is about Mike Vrabel. That's who they wanted... I don't like this. They call it Black Monday for a reason. This certainly typifies it. I don't know why it's not called White Monday. Doug Pederson got fired from… pic.twitter.com/PsZFD7CrWR
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 6, 2025
“This is about Mike Vrabel. That's who they wanted... I don't like this. They call it Black Monday for a reason. This certainly typifies it. I don't know why it's not called White Monday…Jerod Mayo clearly was not given a lengthy enough opportunity considering what Bill Belichick left him with from a talent perspective,” Smith said.
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Smith doesn’t have to like New England’s decision, but he also doesn’t need to call it racist because - shocker - it’s not about Mayo’s skin color.
Throughout the season, Mayo’s demeanor on the sideline indicated that he didn’t want to be there. He also couldn’t get his team to play disciplined football, as they constantly got penalized in crucial situations. But what really did him in was the fact that he built a toxic culture in New England in which no one ever consistently took accountability for their mistakes.
Matt Dolloff of 98.5 “The Sports Hub” writes:
“A major reason that he lasted only one season at the helm is the culture that he built. Mayo as head coach fancied himself a leader of men, a developer of people. He described accountability as one of his key tenets. But instead, Mayo somehow created the opposite culture, one of finger-pointing and excuse-making. And it ultimately infected the entire operation, both on and off the field.”
Oh, and lets not forget about the fact that in his first press conference after being hired last year, he went on a super liberal tirade about how it was so important for New England to have hired their first black head coach.
“I do see color, because I believe if you don’t see color you can’t see racism.”
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 17, 2024
Jerod Mayo on being named the first black head coach in Patriots history. pic.twitter.com/toTTJ6CrB3
Smith can claim all he wants that this was a decision based on racist hatred. But Mayo’s horrific tenure as a bad coach proves this was anything but that.
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