New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft suggested he should have given former head coach Bill Belichick “some checks and balances” during his tenure with the franchise.
“Our record the last three to four years wasn’t what I wanted,” Kraft said during an interview with the popular morning show The Breakfast Club. “And I had given him so much power. He had full control over everything. And shame on me, I should’ve had some checks and balances better.”
Kraft, however, told the show’s hosts that Belichick had “earned that right” during his 24 years with the team because “what he did for us was great.”
The Patriots won six Super Bowls during Belichick’s run as head coach but the team struggled to maintain that level of performance after the departure of future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady.
“The results weren’t there and if you’re in the sports business, you either win or you lose,” Kraft said. “There’s no grey. And I hate losing.”
New England Belichick parted ways after the 2023 season and Kraft hired former Patriots player and longtime assistant Jerod Mayo as New England’s head coach.
Kraft said he’d been impressed with Mayo since the franchise selected him with the 10th overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.
Kraft said he was impressed with Mayo’s leadership dating back to his time as a player and cited the former linebacker being voted as a captain in his second season as a sign.
Mayo’s first season as the Patriots’ head coach has gotten off to a rocky start with the team losing five straight games after opening the season with a win against the Cincinnati Bengals.
But in Week 6, the Patriots made a quarterback switch to No. 3 overall draft pick Drake Maye which seemed to spark New England’s offense.
(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
