With the Patriots sitting at 3-11 and holding the third pick in next spring's NFL draft (hello, Travis Hunter?) fans and some in the media are calling for coach Jerod Mayo to be "one-and-done."
While I'll agree that he has coached scared on several occasions this season, and he is showing why he's a rookie head coach, firing Mayo after just one season, no less one where rookie quarterback Drake Maye has shown he is the franchise's long-term answer at the most important position in professional sports, would send the wrong message.
Often times, coaches have struggled early in their tenures, and fan bases have grumbled, but ownership sticking with them has proven to be the right move.
Two big cases come to mind, and one involves a former Patriots' coach who took the team to a Super Bowl.
The NFL has a history of head coaches not performing well in Year 1
1. Bill Parcells
Before the Tuna took Drew Bledsoe and Co. to Super Bowl XXXI, one of the blueprints of the Patriots' 21st-century dynasty, Parcells had the task of rebuilding the New York Giants.
The 1983 season was the lowest of the low for Parcells, his first in the Big Apple. The Giants finished 3-12-1, and Parcells made the mistake of benching Phil Simms for Scott Brunner. Simms even requested a trade, and fans in New York wanted Parcells gone. But the Mara family stuck with the Tuna, and he subsequently went to work. Simms returned to his starting role, Parcells cleaned house around him, and the Giants made the playoffs the next two seasons before winning Super Bowl XXI in January of 1987.
The noise Parcells faced is similar to that Mayo is hearing in New England, and given Boston and New York are two feisty media markets, that's not a surprise. Parcells had his guy in Simms the way Mayo has his in Maye, and the latter just needs more talent.
2. Dan Campbell
Campbell's start in Detroit wasn't exactly a great one either.
The 2021 Lions started 0-10-1 en route to a 3-13-1 finish, having fans in the Motor City wondering if Campbell was the answer to turn that floundering franchise around.
As was the case with Parcells in New York, Campbell stuck around, and in Game 17 of his second year, his Lions went up to Green Bay and knocked the Packers out of the playoffs, signaling the end of Aaron Rodgers' time in Green Bay. One year later, the Lions were in the NFC Championship game, and in spite of Sunday's loss to the Buffalo Bills, are sitting at 12-2 and tied atop the NFC with Philadelphia.
Campbell is highly revered amongst his peers and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson - sorry he's not coming to Foxboro - will likely be a head coach next season. He's aggressive - a trait Mayo needs to adopt - and his players respond to it.
If those franchises stuck with those coaches after dismal first years, the Kraft family and the Patriots owe it to Mayo to at least give him a chance to reset the roster and see what he can do with more talent around Maye. Firing a coach after one year sends the wrong message to a young quarterback.