The fact that Vrabel was available made the best choice an easy one. Kraft hasn’t run an actual coaching search since 1997 when he hired Pete Carroll. The two hires that followed — Bill Belichick in 2000 and Jerod Mayo last year — were both examples of Kraft selecting people who he already knew, liked and trusted.

The Patriots turned to Vrabel after their quick coaching search wrapped up just seven days after the team fired Jerod Mayo.

After trying to move on from the Bill Belichick era, the Patriots are now going right back to a successor much more like him.