How Safe Is Mike Vrabel’s Job Amid Dianna Russini Scandal?

“The idea of Mike Vrabel getting fired or stepping down seemed completely unrealistic a few weeks ago, or when this story first got some legs. Now, you’ve got to think it’s on the table because I’m sure this is the last thing the Patriots want constantly in the news cycle,” longtime sports media personality Jemele Hill tells Front Office Sports.

In a recent piece for The Atlantic, the ex-ESPN anchor and columnist notes Vrabel’s recent appearances before the press—where he talked a lot but admitted little—didn’t cut it from a crisis PR standpoint. The questions will keep coming until Vrabel really answers them, she says. Meanwhile, how will Vrabel and the Pats handle the mockery from rival NFL teams that’s expected to commence on Thursday’s schedule release day?

As Hill tells FOS: “It feels as if Vrabel is going to be forced to address this in a much deeper and more significant way than he already has. That’s the only way the constant reporting will stop. The longer he continues to evade questions, the more motivation he’s giving to the tabloids to keep pursuing the story.”

The tabloids have no shortage of help. The bombshell coverage seems to have turned ordinary citizens into amateur paparazzi, selling their photos/videos to the Post, TMZ, and Daily Mail. That led sports radio legend Jim Rome to issue a blunt warning on X/Twitter: “Vrabel and Russini have the tabloids out here PANNING FOR SMUT like it’s GOLD.”

On Thursday, New York sports radio host Craig Carton came out and asked the question the meek NFL media has been avoiding: “WHEN WILL ROBERT KRAFT FIRE MIKE VRABEL? At what point do the Patriots say, ‘We’ve reached our limit?’ The answer could be never! But if there are 20 more stories coming out, we’ve got to let you go!”

But another plugged-in source doesn’t think Vrabel will lose his job. Why would the Patriots push a top coach out over a story even the NFL says doesn’t fall under the purview of its personal conduct policy? Especially when owner Bob Kraft himself was charged with solicitation of prostitution after visiting a Florida massage parlor for sex acts in 2019? (The charges were dropped the next year).

As with all scandals, Vrabel-Russini should gradually fade into the background in favor of more recent news. Once training camps, preseason, and regular season games kick off, the game will take precedence, the source predicts. “Football will provide the bigger distraction; the more so if he’s winning. The anticipated heckling will die down if he can win.”

As for the Pats, they will likely try to make the sensitive story off-limits to local TV/radio/print media. There are ways a powerful NFL team can control local media: they can take away press credentials from newspapers whose coverage they don’t like. They can block access to players/coaches for local TV and radio stations.

A pair of Boston sports radio hosts, Andy Hart and Nick “Fitzy” Stevens, just lost their afternoon show at WEEI days after criticizing Vrabel. Coincidence? Perhaps. But the timing certainly raised some eyebrows. (A source denied to Boston.com that the hosts’ comments played a role in the lineup change).

As the source warns FOS: “The Pats are keeping notes. Some people have already lost their jobs for speaking out.”

Then there’s the human element. The Pats may want to keep Vrabel. But if scandal continues to dominate the news cycle, the team might decide he’s too much of the dreaded “distraction” to continue. That could result in a leave of absence, resignation, or termination.

Mike Florio and Michael Holley discussed Vrabel’s future on PFT Live on Friday. Could the coach take a year off to focus on his personal life? Or quit to try to shield his family from the tabloid microscope?

As Florio noted, the issue boils down to this: Can Vrabel’s “dual” personal life survive a job that requires him to be “all-in?” The tipping point, said Florio, was the coach missing the third day of the NFL Draft to undergo counseling.

“When you have this personal issue that becomes enough of a distraction to a job that is all-consuming, especially once training camps start. At some point, you can’t do both,” the PFT founder said. “You can’t put out the fire that is raging in your personal life through your behavior over a period of six years.”

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