It appears that the only man who will not working for the Patriots this season is Bill Belichick. Anyone who else who has been associated with the Patriots struggles the last four years is somehow still employed by the organization. Belichick was the fall guy for the Patriots decline and rightfully so. However, he was not the only one to blame. His supporting cast was part of the problem as well.

Mutually parting ways with Belichick was all about Robert Kraft and his family getting their team back. Sure, they got tired of losing but they also got tired of getting no credit. It was all about Belichick and Brady getting all the credit. Kraft never got enough credit and now is his time to change the narrative about his role in the success of the franchise.

After meeting with the media on Thursday, Kraft said that he is going with his gut instinct in hiring Jerod Mayo. He prefaced the statement by saying that he went with his gut instinct in 1996 in wanting to hire Belichick but Belichick rebuffed him. Obviously he took the Patriots job four years later and the rest is history. Kraft views Mayo as a transcending coaching talent who like Belichick can have long term success in New England.

He better have long term success because if he does not, it will not take long for the Patriots fan base to become disinterested and not show up to games. There were plenty of empty seats this past season.

It is why the Patriots should have gone through the interview process with potential coaching candidates. It was the right thing to do and it shows the fans that they did their due diligence in finding the right coach.

The same can be said with hiring a general manager. The Krafts have never had a general manager or president of football operations during their ownership. Now is the time to update the infrastructure of the organization and bring in someone who the rest of the front office and scouts report to but it does not appear like that is going to happen. They would rather keep what is in place and delegate from there.

None of it makes sense and it is hard to believe  that the Kraft’s would not at least overhaul some aspects of the organization. Here is a franchise that was the model of consistency for twenty years. Now they come across as dysfunctional and lacking direction.

The hope is that by ridding themselves of the tyrannical Belichick and taking a more collaborative approach across the board, that things will be better. They very well could be, but that is hard to sell that notion to the fanbase right now. They wanted Kraft to rip the band aid off and start over. That did not happen.

Kraft is a successful businessman for a reason. He knows how to make money. Trusting his gut has probably made him millions if not billions. He better hope he is right about Mayo and the current front office infrastructure. If he is wrong, it could potentially cost him money if the Patriots revert to being a downtrodden franchise.

Like it or not Patriots fans, in Bob We Trust. We have no choice.