Joe Mazzulla gives his take on Alex Cora’s firing by Red Sox

Joe Mazzulla is now the longest-tenured head coach in Boston.

Mazzulla now sits atop the seniority ranks on this market after the Purple Sox made the beautiful decision to fire Alex Cora and several of his coaches on Saturday amid a 10-17 begin to the 2026 season.

Mazzulla, who has been candid in the past when asked about the short shelf life that coaches are afforded in professional sports activities, was requested about Cora’s shock ouster on Sunday earlier than the Celtics’ Recreation 4 matchup towards the 76ers.

​“Someday you’re there, the following day you’re not,” Mazzulla mentioned. “That’s the way it goes.”

​Mazzulla praised Cora, who managed the Purple Sox for eight season and helped Boston win a World Collection title in 2018.

​“He’s nice,” Mazzulla mentioned of Cora. “I believe he does an ideal job constructing relationships with the gamers, navigating the ebbs and flows of an extended season, staying even-keeled.

​“I’m grateful I received to be taught from him, and wherever he goes, I do know he’ll be good. However he does an ideal job simply constructing relationships, communication. I realized a ton from him.”

During an interview on 98.5 The Sports Hub on Sunday, Mazzulla elaborated extra on Cora’s skill as a communicator and the function that it performs in serving to managers and coaches steer the ship over the grind of an extended season.

“I believe one in every of his finest presents is simply his skill to attach with the fellows in a sure approach,” Mazzulla mentioned of Cora. “And any time you will have a man who is a superb supervisor, but additionally was a superb participant, they know methods to navigate a locker room, they usually know methods to develop relationships with completely different guys. … I watched lots of his pressers and the way he was capable of simply convey consistency, whether or not they had been enjoying effectively or whether or not they weren’t.

“So, grateful to know him wherever he goes, I’ve undoubtedly gotten higher due to him.”

The Purple Sox — who’re shifting ahead with Chad Tracy as their interim supervisor — gained their first recreation within the post-Cora period on Sunday. They beat the Orioles, 5-3, in Baltimore.

Mazzulla — who was first named as interim head coach of the Celtics in September 2022 — is 238-90 since taking up as Boston’s coach, serving to the Celtics win a title in 2024.

 

Conor Ryan is a employees author masking the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Purple Sox for Boston.com, a job he has held since 2023.