FOXBORO -- Greg Bedard and John Zannis break down the firing of Jerod Mayo and Robert Kraft's press conference, where Kraft took responsibility for the team’s struggles. They also discuss the report that Lions OC Ben Johnson is set to interview with the Patriots and debate whether Mike Vrabel becoming New England's next head coach is inevitable.
0:00 - Robert Kraft's press conference
1:40 - Kraft takes responsibility
4:44 - Potential coaching candidates
10:00 - Personnel department
16:07 - More onn coaching candidates
The Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast is presented by:
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0:00 - Robert Kraft's press conference
1:40 - Kraft takes responsibility
4:44 - Potential coaching candidates
10:00 - Personnel department
16:07 - More onn coaching candidates
The Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast is presented by:
Prize Picks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS to get $50 when you play $5! PrizePicks, run your game! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS
Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime! Terms apply. Go to https://gametime.co !
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SportsTranscript
00:00This is the Greg Vidard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles.
00:10Alright, John Zanis alongside Greg Vidard outside Gillette Stadium where earlier today Robert Kraft came out, held a press conference and threw himself on the sword regarding the Gerard Mayo firing, saying right off the bat, it's on me, blame me, I put the kid in too soon, he wasn't ready.
00:28Just your initial reaction to Kraft, what he said today and the reasoning behind it because he very clearly stated what we all could see plainly, things were getting worse and it wasn't only that there was fear that it wouldn't get better, I think there had to be some concern that it couldn't get better under Gerard Mayo as coach.
00:47Yeah, I thought overall, I thought Robert did a good job. I thought him coming out and owning it and said it's on me, I put Gerard in an untenable situation before he was ready for this type of job. I mean this is stuff that was evident to everybody but to hear the owner come out and say that and own it, it's good for the people.
01:11And also it shows that Robert is paying attention, that he's not just an 83 year old guy up there sort of looking around and wanting adulation, he's paying attention. So I thought that was good, I thought that was all correct.
01:27Now there were some concerning things in the interview that we'll get into but I thought that he was good overall, I thought it was important for Patriots fans to hear him say I screwed this up, it's not on Gerard. I do think about the reasoning, I thought that was also good to hear that they were paying attention however they were doing it and I don't think it was just in their booth on game day.
01:57They knew a lot of what was going on in the building and I think a lot of what went on this year from the beginning and this goes back to even before training camp started, once Gerard got the job, I think there was a sense of does he know what he's doing? Have we made a mistake?
02:15And like I reported in early December, if Kraft realized he made a mistake, he was not going to hesitate, he was not going to let the personal stuff get in the way and that ended up happening and I do think that he understood that because Chris Gasper asked the question about you knew this was going to be a multi-year thing and you knew that Gerard was a young coach and talked about letting him grow into the role, why didn't you do that?
02:42I think they just looked at it, this is where we talked about the low bar that Mayo had. I don't care if you start the season 0-12, but in the final 5 games, if all of a sudden you're 3-2 or 2-3 and you're basically doing what the Carolina Panthers have done this year under Dave Canales, who quite frankly, Mayo sort of made Dave Canales look like Vince Lombardi this year.
03:08Them going into Atlanta, who was fighting for their playoff lives, knocking them off along with the other guys, the other teams that they were paying the butt to, that's what you want. Just show something at the end of the season that this is going in the right direction.
03:23It was regressing and then you get into, how do we know it's going to get better next year if we stick with this and I think they reached the conclusion sometime during the last month of the season that that was not going to happen or at least the percentages were really low and at this point in time with the Patriots, with all the assets they have right now, they could not afford to just hope and pray.
03:45Yeah, and you've reported it and it does seem, it was a bit of a gut hire with maybe not as much vetting as you should have put into a head coaching hire and as you'd written for Boston Sports Journal, is they started asking around and they didn't necessarily like what they were hearing in terms of how things ended with Mayo last year and maybe painted a different picture of the type of person that they'd brought in here.
04:07So it's nice to say that, hey, it's on me, but it is. I think Robert Kraft both deserves the blame for this situation to begin with and credit for how it was handled and recognized a mistake, something a lot of people didn't think he'd be able to do.
04:21Now, it makes it easier to pivot from Gerard Mayo if you already know that you have a head coach in your back pocket and a lot of people have speculated and again, if you read all the signs and everything that's kind of come out and all the reporting that's being done, that maybe there's been a wink wink behind the scenes, you know, back channel discussion with Mike Vrabel.
04:41It's very clear that Mike Vrabel has interest in the position and you have to feel that Robert Kraft feels pretty solid in knowing that if he wants Mike Vrabel, he can have Mike Vrabel. So if it's not a done deal, it's got to be pretty close.
04:56Or he's got to be clearly a leading candidate. There's a report today, Ben Johnson, they've requested to interview and again, I think if there's one person out there who you'd say, I at least have to listen to this guy before I hire you, that's probably the only other candidate that might be in this race, but it sounds like if Vrabel wants it, it might be his.
05:16Yeah, I do think we're at a point in time where the pool of head coaching candidates, like legit, it's pretty thin. There's not a whole lot of retreads that are, you know, you have Pete Carroll and you have Bill Belichick.
05:32Yeah, Ron Rivera. I mean, it's John Gruden. It's extremely thin. And I think that Ben Johnson, not only they request permission, he agreed to be interviewed with the Patriots. It's a good sign.
05:50But he's not going to do that if he thinks it's a bag job, right? That adds legitimacy to the notion that they are actually doing a head coaching search versus just handing it to their preferred candidate.
06:01Yeah. And, you know, this is the type of year where we start to get into people doing favors for agents and things like that. But I will say, it's a good sign, especially, you know, with Drake May and everything and all the assets the Patriots have that, you know, Ben Johnson would, you know, take the interview.
06:18Now, that being said, I do think that Mike Vrabel is the favorite to land this job. I think it would be an upset to a lot of people in this league if that eventually doesn't happen. And I don't think it'd be a stretch to say that they haven't made progress on that front.
06:36That, you know, that Vrabel, you know, will be one of the top guys and I think he'll be the top guy. I think he will be the next Patriots coach at some point in time. We'll just have to see, you know, when they get through it through the process. But, yeah, I think you're right. I think that I don't think they make a move that swiftly and I still can't get over the timing of it.
06:56Like 90 minutes after the game ended, that's like, it's unheard of in the NFL. I think that they wanted to get going. I think they had an idea what direction they wanted to go and I think they've started down that road.
07:08Yeah, and again, I keep going back and forth in my mind whether there was something there that made them react so quickly, like some people had speculated he won the game. I don't think that's the case. I think they put him out of his misery early rather than have to deal with a whole, you know, night and day of speculation and drag it on. Their minds were made up and that was that.
07:29The other thing that was talked about in the press conference, I mean, you asked a question about spending. This is an expensive process. We know now they don't have a hiring firm. It's going to be run by, you know, Elliott Wolfe and Alonzo Highsmith. And that's it. And they're going to bring in who knows how many candidates. It might be a small number of candidates. So I'm not saying necessarily it's being done on the cheap, but it's not the full scale, you know, operation that a lot of people go through when they're trying to hire for these positions.
07:59I'm not sure Robert's answer was satisfactory. They're saying we always spend and that's not necessarily the case.
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09:30The other thing was, and I thought that was really interesting in the press conference, Tom Curran asking a question about, Robert Kraft did confirm that Elliot Wolfe is going to be back and the staff is going to be back. And a really interesting question is, why are you so confident bringing back these people, Elliot Wolfe and Groh, who have their fingerprints all over this poor roster construction that's kind of led to these last couple of seasons, you know, basement-dwelling seasons for the Patriots. And he didn't really have a good answer for that. Listen to it here.
10:00The personnel department this past year in free agency didn't really have a banner year and also in the draft. And Elliot and some of the other individuals there, Matt Groh, have been part of the personnel department for a number of years. What is it that stands out to you about them that they should continue forward in the team building when the roster is not great?
10:23Yeah, I think that the department evolved a lot and a lot of things were changed. We changed our grading system this year and have done things. Our drafts have not been good for a while.
10:43And that's not, if you want to compete long-term and be good in this league, you've got to have good drafts. Because those rookie contracts allow you to go out and get the people you need to surround people.
10:59It looks like we locked out, we maybe have two quarterbacks. But I think we'll hopefully see a big improvement this year.
11:17So that's what Robert Kraft had to say about the personnel department coming back for next season who are going to work with presumably and have a hand in the next head coach. Do you think that, two things. One, is that the right call? And two, do you think that removes the possibility of a head coach having a say and bringing in someone else along with them that they want to be part of this collaborative process that they keep talking about that they want to see here in terms of the decision making?
11:45So on whether it's the right call or not, I'm not sure. I will say this. As opposed to a lot of people on the coaching staff, Elliot Wolfe, Alonzo Highsmith and Pat Stewart who are sort of the three at the top of the Patriots personnel department.
11:59Those three guys are all experienced and had the required experience for the jobs that they have. Elliot Wolfe had been the number two in two different scouting departments, had interview for general manager positions. Alonzo Highsmith is well thought of, really well respected.
12:17And Pat Stewart has been with not only the Patriots previously, the Patriots, the Eagles, the Panthers. He was high up with the Panthers. I know a lot of fans after this offseason think Elliot Wolfe and his people are the devil and that they're totally incompetent. I disagree with that.
12:41But this whole discussion about Elliot Wolfe and the personnel department, this is the part of the press conference that left me uneasy because it sounds like, now I just want to say it could be just Robert being Robert, sort of the way he talked about things and they're staying on. He said that they're staying on. But that could mean just for now.
13:04It could be a placeholder. It also might mean they're staying on, but not necessarily in positions of leadership over an entire department. I did think it left the door open.
13:12Yeah, for sure. What people have to realize is this is prime draft season. You have all-star games coming up. The Senior Bowl, which we'll be at, is January 28th. You can't just blow out a personnel department in January. People have to do the work.
13:31There wasn't really anybody else. If they had some great second-in-command that they had a lot of confidence in, then maybe you could fire Elliot Wolfe and promote that guy. They don't really have that right now.
13:41I am worried that if they had the idea that these guys are staying in place, that you're scaring off some of the head coaching candidates. You're going to hear this a bunch of times. Alignment. You want alignment between the head coach and the personnel department.
14:01The general manager. In terms of, they know the players they want to look at. They see it the same way. I worry about that being a shotgun marriage. However, let's just say it's Mike Rabel. First of all, if Rabel comes in here, I think he's at the top of the food chain.
14:16I think everybody else is under him. I do think he'll have the power to bring in at least one person. There's a guy, Ryan Cowden, who was with him in Tennessee, who is now with the Giants, who he is linked with. He could bring him in and then Rabel and Cowden slowly get more and more power.
14:33When you say top of the food chain, do you mean that the current personnel department might make recommendations where Rabel himself would have final say or veto power over? What happens there? This collaborative approach, again, it's nice if it works, but somebody's got to be a final decision maker.
14:52Again, it's really whether or not Elliot Wolfe continues to be the final decision maker, if in fact he even is or was beforehand, or that's going to transition to the coach and or whomever they bring in.
15:06Right. I mean, it'll be set up two different ways. Rabel is sort of like Belichick II in terms of basically the buck stops with him, or you get both the GM and the head coach report to Kraft, which I think Albert Brewer reported that's what will likely be the setup.
15:25We'll have to see. My big thing is if the Krafts are limiting them, first of all, it's a cheap way out where they're like, no, we already have these guys in place. I do think that internally, I think they like Elliot and what he's doing.
15:41They hadn't had really a chance to implement their scouting method, grading system, all that. So I think the hope is to give them one more year. But I think we'll see a head coach bring in a personnel guy. And if it doesn't go well, I think all of a sudden that guy gets the power going forward.
16:01So that kind of wraps up what we heard from Robert Kraft today. But the interesting stuff really starts happening now. As we covered, you have Ben Johnson accepting an interview. Mike Rabel, we assume, is also going to be coming in here shortly for the first interview. And then who really knows after that. But as we know, Gerard Mayo is gone. Coaching candidates are being lined up. The personnel department for now is staying, but fluid to say the least.
16:30Greg Berdara, John Zanis, outside Gillette Stadium.
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