It looks like Robert Kraft got lucky. The Patriots owner probably should have hired Mike Vrabel a year ago, when the former Titans coach was unexpectedly available. But he’d already made his ill-fated contractual promise to Jerod Mayo which left him stuck.

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.