- “Black Monday” is the Monday when the NFL regular-season ends, which means some head coaches lose their jobs.
- Doug Pederson and Antonio Pierce were fired by Jacksonville and Las Vegas, respectively, on “Black Monday”.
- New England didn’t wait for “Black Monday” as they fired Jerod Mayo within minutes of their regular-season finale against Buffalo.
It was another busy “Black Monday” in the NFL, as three head coaches were handed their walking papers at the end of the regular season. Jerod Mayo, Doug Pederson, and Antonio Pierce were let go by their teams, and one coach was fired as soon as Sunday’s regular-season finale ended.
Jerod Mayo, New England
After just one season in New England, Jerod Mayo was fired by the Patriots.
The Patriots finished 4-13, which was last in the AFC East. But the final blow was actually a Patriots’ win, as they beat Buffalo 23-16 in Week 18. That meant the Patriots wouldn’t have the #1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The win dropped the Patriots all the way down to fourth in the draft order. Mayo was fired less than an hour after the Patriots’ season ended on Sunday.
Mayo looked over his head at times in his first season as an NFL head coach. He was decorated as a player as Mayo spent eight seasons in New England, winning a Super Bowl in 2014 (although he was injured most of the season). Mayo was also the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2008, and a two-time Pro Bowler.
But that success didn’t carry over to coaching as the Patriots looked in disarray much of the season, and they didn’t start rookie quarterback Drake Maye until Week 6. NFL betting sites have another former New England linebacker, Mike Vrabel, as a big favorite to replace Mayo.
Vrabel was the head coach in Tennessee from 2018 to 2023, and was the NFL Coach of the Year in 2021. He’ll be highly coveted by many teams.
Doug Pederson, Jacksonville
Pederson was near the NFL next coach fired odds for most of the season, and many thought he would have been fired much earlier. However, Pederson lasted the season before he was let go after leading the Jaguars to a 4-13 record.
Pederson has coached two teams, and led Philadelphia to a Super Bowl win in 2017. He spent three seasons in Jacksonville, and the Jaguars were battered by injuries this season, especially to quarterback Trevor Lawrence. However, the Jaguars weren’t playing well when Lawrence was healthy, and the writing has been on the wall for a while now.
NFL betting lines have Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as the favorite to replace Pederson, and have already requested an interview with Johnson. The Jaguars have seen what Johnson has done with Jared Goff in Detroit, where he had decent NFL MVP odds all season. They would hope he could do the same with Lawrence. The Jaguars will pick fifth in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Antonio Pierce, Las Vegas
Pierce, like Mayo, only lasted one season as the head coach after being fired by the Raiders on “Black Monday”.
Pierce led the Raiders to a 5-4 record after taking over for Josh McDaniels last season, which landed him the permanent job in the offseason. But this season was awful from the Raiders, who finished 4-13 and will pick sixth in the 2025 NFL Draft. Pierce won the Super Bowl in 2007 with the New York Giants and was a Pro Bowler, but may have been over his head as a coach.
That said, the Raiders had terrible quarterbacking under Gardner Minshew and Aiden O’Connell. The next head coach will have to figure that out. Online sportsbooks have Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore as the favorite to take over in Las Vegas.
