No wonder the New England Patriots dumped Jerod Mayo in record timing after Week 18

It was a terrible hire when it happened, but the New England Patriots not even giving Jerod Mayo a chance to improve or grow as a head coach was another terrible look for the fallen Evil Empire. Mayo was hand-picked by Robert Kraft to succeed Bill Belichick after moving on from him last year. He not only coached under Belichick, he played for him not that long ago. All in all, this was a total disaster.

However, I think there is only one justifiable reason to move on from Mayo this soon. That would be to land the best head-coaching candidate the market could offer. If you favor a defensive-minded head coach with a ton of experience and strong New England ties, it would be hard to pass on Mike Vrabel. If you want to get the most out of Drake Maye, then hiring hotshot coordinator Ben Johnson suffices.

This is exactly the line of thinking ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano had when it came to the rumors and rumblings associated with the NFL head-coaching carousel. Of the six jobs that have become available, New England is now one of the most attractive. The franchise has fallen on hard times of late, but they could have a bright future because of Maye's awesome talent at quarterback.

Depending on how candidates gel with Eliot Wolf, this could be the best job opening up this winter.

New England Patriots pivoted off Jerod Mayo to upgrade at head coach

In my opinion, you only move off Mayo in the manner the Patriots did if you have assurances that either Vrabel or Johnson will come to Foxborough. You cannot fire one of your own after one season, only to land the third or worst head-coaching candidate in the cycle. Then again, the Patriots set themselves up for failure by not interviewing a single other person before they gave Mayo the job.

The only other head-coaching candidate that could justify moving on from Mayo this soon would be to bring back former star defensive coach Brian Flores into the building. His great work during the 2018 NFL season helped the Patriots win their most recent Super Bowl to date. Unfortunately, his previous run coaching at Miami rubbed a lot of people the wrong may, just maybe not New England...

Ultimately, it serves the Patriots to conduct a wide and thorough search for their next head coach. Because the Detroit Lions have a first-round bye and are expected to go deep in this year's NFL playoffs, time is on the Patriots' side to potentially land Johnson. However, Vrabel could be hired tomorrow by anyone, as the Cleveland Browns finished the season at 3-14 and have the No. 2 pick.

The only way firing Mayo is justified is if the Patriots hire either Vrabel or Johnson as his successor.