The New England Patriots are one of several teams looking for a new head coach after they fired Jerod Mayo just an hour after their 23-16 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Week 18. Their top candidate currently appears to be former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, and the team has taken a big step towards landing their guy.

Robert Kraft has already satisfied the Rooney Rule by interviewing Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich in person, meaning the Patriots are the first of the six teams with a head-coaching vacancy who can make a hire.

The New England Patriots plan to interview Mike Vrabel for their vacant head coach position on Thursday, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Vrabel was most recently a coaching and personnel consultant for the Cleveland Browns this past season.

The Jerod Mayo era with the New England Patriots was much shorter than anyone would have anticipated when he was originally hired as head coach, but

Former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski believes the Patriots firing Jerod Mayo as head coach was unfair. He made his case during an NFL on FOX broadcast on Sunday. Mayo was fired following the team’s loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Several current and former Patriots have spoken out after New England made the call to fire Jerod Mayo after one season on the job.

For a second straight year, the New England Patriots will be hiring a new head coach. Last year, the team parted ways with the greatest coach in NFL history, Bill Belichick, and hired Jerod Mayo as his replacement.

It didn't take long for the New England Patriots to make their first major move of the offseason. Shortly after Sunday's season finale vs. the Buffalo Bills, Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced the team parted ways with first-year head coach Jerod Mayo.