Add The New York Post on Google NFL coaches are feeling the consequences of the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini photo scandal, according to ESPN after interviews with league insiders, reporters, players and coaches, most of whom spoke only on the condition of anonymity about the Patriots’ offseason.
After reaching the Super Bowl in Vrabel’s first year as head coach in Foxbourogh, Page Six published photos in April of him and Dianna Russini, a former NFL insider for The Athletic, together at an adults-only resort.
“All the coaches are under surveillance right now, all the s–t with Vrabel,” one assistant coach from another NFL team told ESPN.
Another NFL assistant coach, who does not work for the Patriots, said that he is more cautious while interacting with female colleagues and reporters.
“It’s the insinuation; you gotta watch yourself because players, coaches, people are looking at you, like ‘Are you in a relationship?'” he said.
“That is the trickle-down effect. Just imagine you’ve been working all day, 14, 16 hours, and you get to come home and your wife says, ‘Hey, did you see this?’ …. It creates the perception of, OK, this is what coaches are doing when we’re out of town or playing away games.”
Other NFL clubs reportedly saw the Vrabel-Russini story as a major discussion topic and a teaching moment
One team executive told ESPN that their front office studied it and spoke of how they would respond if they faced a similar crisis.
ESPN also spoke with several women reporters from the Worldwide Leader and other outlets, who said that the Vrabel-Russini situation has negatively impacted their jobs.
ESPN’s story came after The Athletic published the findings of its nearly five-month probe into Russini’s relationship with Vrabel on Friday — and said Russini was “noncompliant” with the New York Times-owned company’s standards, adding there was “scant” evidence that her relationship with Vrabel impacted her reporting on him.
iIn response to the investigation results, Russini told her former employer that she stands by all of her reporting throughout her entire career
Page Six broke the story that Russini and Vrabel, who are both married, were holding hands and hugging at a resort in March. The outlet published separate photos of them together on other occasions.
Russini stepped down from her position at The Athletic in April before her contract expired on June 30.
Vrabel, who did not receive disciplinary action from the Patriots or the NFL, missed Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft to attend counseling with his family.
At the time, Vrabel told Page Six that the photos “show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable.”
In ESPN’s report on Monday, a person who spoke to Vrabel said the head coach wanted to issue a stronger statement that defended Russini’s reporting ethics, but settled on downplaying the photos when the scandal broke.
The Patriots declined to make Vrabel available for an interview and declined to comment for this story, ESPN said.
Russini has been in discussions about several new job opportunities ranging from pro football insider to opinionist/personality, as reported by Front Office Sports on Friday.
