Nearly four weeks have passed since the New York Post’s Page Six story broke, bringing to light an inappropriate relationship between Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and former Athletic NFL insider Dianna Russini.
Since that initial story, the tabloid coverage has remained constant. It’s been relentless and intrusive. Vrabel and his wife were stalked at an airport.
In the wake of it all, the Patriots coach has tacitly acknowledged wrong-doing.
“I take accountability for my actions and the actions that caused a distraction to the people that I care most about— my family, this football team, the organization and our fans,” Vrabel said ahead of Day 1 of the NFL Draft. “My previous actions don’t meet the standard that I hold myself to. They don’t. And what I believe is best for the two most important things in my life, my family and this football team, is for us to take the necessary steps to work together and to give them what I told them I’d give them, which is the best version of me. And that’s what we’re going to do”
Understandably, there’s concern whether Vrabel will be able to weather the storm, make things right with his family and continue to have success on the field.
Will he change? Has he already changed?
And, looking specifically at the football side, can things ever return to normal in Foxborough?
Part of what’s made Vrabel a successful football coach stems from his larger than life personality and all that comes with it.
Whether it’s his relentless energy, his steadfast enthusiasm, or his ability to connect with everyone in the room, players feed off of it.
This past season, their identity was forged in his image. It led them to a 14-3 record and an unexpected run to the Super Bowl.
Given recent events, it’s hard to forecast how much the Page Six story, as well as subsequent published stories and photos, will impact the football team.
Vrabel ignored the basic tenets of the culture he worked so hard to create.
For a coach who holds his players to high standards, one who preaches family, making good decisions, and being accountable, it’s easy to see how his words might ring hollow in the locker room, how he may have lost the players’ trust and how his image might forever be tainted.
Speaking with former Patriots teammates, as well as some who played for him and know him well, most agree the road ahead with the players will be difficult, especially given the unknown of what lies ahead and what more may come out.
In the end, however, they still believe Vrabel will steer himself and the team through this challenging chapter.
Locker room is safe haven
“The one saving grace, no matter what goes on in your life, has always been an NFL locker room. Those players are going through some of the same things Mike Vrabel is going through with some of the temptations, some of the things that’s out there, things they struggle with,” Rodney Harrison, Vrabel’s former Patriots teammate, told MassLive. “So they have a great deal of empathy. So I think they’ll understand, and they’ll forgive Mike. I think it’ll bring the locker room even closer together.
“You still might have a few holes. A few who might be skeptical, ‘Well he said this, he said that’ but the majority in that locker room, they love Mike Vrabel and they respect him,” Harrison went on. “They know he’s a human being, he’s a good person and he made a mistake. And, they’re going to forgive him.”
Harrison also thought with Vrabel being up against it, being chastened, and now doubted, it might also serve to further motivate the Patriots coach.
“He’s been humbled. But he’s hungry. He’s even hungrier now,” Harrison said. “He knows he has a lot of stuff to prove to those guys in the locker room. And that’s what he’s going to do.”
Vince Wilfork, a teammate during the first run of Patriots championships who later played for Vrabel when he was the Texans defensive coordinator, agreed.
He believes Vrabel being up front with the players, showing contrition, will help his cause.
“I love Mike. Mike is a great guy, a great coach. He’s been a coach and teammate of mine. I know how he is. I know he told them, ‘I eff’d up,’’’ said Wilfork, who was in town for the ‘Gotta Have It BBQ Festival’ at The Brook Casino Friday night. ”He’s going to face it like a man, and hope for the best. He’s going to be real about it.”
Several Patriots, who spoke with the media last week, acknowledged Vrabel had gone down that path.
Newcomer Alijah Vera-Tucker said he respected how “open and honest” Vrabel has been addressing the situation.
Meanwhile, Drake Maye, speaking at a Best Buddies event Wednesday night, offered support.
“We’re here for coach, we love coach and what he does for us, and has done for us this past year,” Maye told 7 News’ Jonathan Hall. ”You can’t speak it into words, and thankfully, he’s our head coach. We know he’s dealing with some stuff off the field and out of the coaching world, but we’re here for him and I know he’s gonna come back.”
Dealing with the aftershocks of the Vrabel-Russini scandal during the offseason is better than the alternative. If this news broke during the regular season, it would have been much more problematic and harder to overcome.
“I think he can (recover). I think the relationship he has with his players, he’s let it be known how much he cares for them, how much he loves them. And I think it’s going to be all about him delivering to the players what he’s going through to some extent,” Wilfork said. “He’s going to be honest with them … and I think the team is going to accept him for who he is. They love their head coach. They love playing for their head coach, so I don’t think the football aspect will change.
“We all go through things in life. One thing sports allows us to do is kind of get away from the outside noise, and come back and focus on what we’re all here for. And that’s football,” the Patriots Hall of Fame defensive tackle went on. “But I think they’re going to rally around their coach. And I think they’ll be okay. But it’s going to be tough. It’s hard to go through what he and his family are going through … there’s a lot going on that they’re going to have to go through.”
What if Vrabel changes?
Vrabel isn’t the first coach to deal with a scandal. He’s just the latest. Others who have been through the tabloid mill for indiscretions – college football’s Bobby Petrino and Urban Meyer come to mind – haven’t quite recovered.
Recent reports suggest Vrabel has changed. He’s not the same gung-ho, highly-charged leader that he was after taking over the team last January. He’s been more like Vrabel-lite since the story broke.
Given the nature of what’s happened, it’s understandable if his personality has been muted in recent weeks. If he permanently loses that edge, however, if he remains a lesser version of himself as a coach, that could prove an issue down the road.
Devin McCourty recalled how Bill Belichick’s relationship with players was largely built on game plans, on X’s and O’s, and his football genius. That’s what made it special.
Vrabel’s relationship with his players is different. While he certainly has football smarts and savvy, the bond he has with the players is more personal.
McCourty, now an NBC Sports analyst, spent some time with the players the week prior to the Super Bowl and discovered one of the secrets to Vrabel’s success.
“It was evident how much those guys were impacted by Vrabel. Every conversation was about the 4 H’s (history, heroes, heartbreak and hope), and his vulnerability, and him bringing them together, and how they bonded,” McCourty said. “It wasn’t about, ‘Hey, this time out he called, or this play he drew up, or this scheme,’ it was about how he built them to be together.
“For this team, they’re going to figure out how do we move forward on some of those things that we were so passionate about. I just think it’s a little different. There’s no exact answer to it. But it’s something he’s going to have to navigate.”
McCourty feels if Vrabel can get to the start of the season without any more shocking revelations, he and the Patriots will be fine. It’s just hard counting on that being the case.
“For him, you just gotta make it to the season. As crazy as that sounds, it’s the truth,” McCourty said. “If you can get to the point of going out and winning football games, people forget about things. If you win, it makes things easier.
“I just think the hard thing for them is the next kind of … waiting until the next thing that happens in the story. It’s a little bit out of their control. We haven’t heard from Dianna Russini yet.”
In the interim, Vrabel is taking care of his family first, and then the football team. Those are his stated priorities.
Already, he missed Day 3 of the NFL Draft to tend to his family and also undergo counseling. The Patriots, with executive VP of player personnel Eliot Wolf in charge, made six picks without him.
Might this galvanize the team?
It’s possible the trouble Vrabel has gotten himself into would humanize him a little more in the eyes of the players. They’ll see that their coaching hero makes mistakes just like everyone else.
It might also have a galvanizing effect.
Both McCourty and Wilfork recalled after Spygate, the Patriots went on an 18-0 run before losing in the Super Bowl. And after Deflategate, Tom Brady had his scorched earth tour with the Patriots winning the Super Bowl after he served a 4-game suspension to start the year thanks to the deflating footballs scandal.
“After Spygate, we were on a mission as a team. I remember at that time, where we said in the locker room, where we said in the meetings, ‘Eff everybody!’ We were on a mission to show everybody we were the real deal,” Wilfork said. “We knew the best way we could have our coaches back was to go out and do what we did. So this is prime opportunity for the players to step up and say (to Vrabel) we have your back. You’re going through a tough patch, you’re going through a tough time, but guess what, we got your back. We’re going to show up for you.
“This could build a team morale, and this could start something going forward from the football side, to get things going back in the right direction. This could be a huge turning point on the football side. It’s going to be interesting to see if the leaders step up.”
McCourty stressed the importance of the current Patriots captains and leaders, and their role in dealing with the scandal, helping younger players see their way through the storm, and supporting Vrabel.
“I think the biggest thing will be, they need strong leadership. I think of Deflategate. I was there for Aaron Hernandez. There’s so many things that happened when I was there,” McCourty said. “I looked at Tom Brady. I looked at Vince Wilfork. I looked at Logan Mankins, I looked at Matthew Slater. And I saw how they handled it.
“I think for Drake Maye, I feel bad in a sense. He’s still navigating how to be in this league, and guys are going to look to him. He’s the quarterback. He’s married, he’s mature. That’s a lot to take on when you’re not at that stage of life.
“I just think they’re going to have to deal with it in waves. It’s not going to be, ‘Hey man, we’re finally over this.’ There are going to be different waves, and how they handle it will really determine their season.”
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