Mike Vrabel’s affair with NFL insider Dianna Russini could end in a wild scenario where he’s back with the Ohio State Buckeyes
Mike Vrabel was both a player and a coach at Ohio State. Since his career in Columbus has ended, he’s been well liked amongst Buckeyes fans. The latest around Vrabel has been all about a long-term affair with NFL reporter Dianna Russini. There’s a world where he’s the Ohio State head coach down the road with how this all unfolds. Hear me out:
Former Ohio State football player and coach Mike Vrabel has been the story of the last month in the NFL due to an alleged fair that’s become public with NFL reporter Dianna Russini. Page Six published photos of the pair being close at a Sedona Resort in early April and it’s been nothing but leaks since.
Vrabel coached the New England Patriots all the way to the Super Bowl a year ago in his first year as their head coach. The former Buckeye took one year off after being fired by the Tennessee Titans, and got immediate success in his first year back on the sidelines. However, there is a legitimate world in which we may have seen the end of Vrabel’s time coaching the Patriots.
Mike Vrabel could eventually step down as the Patriots’ head coach, which leads to an interesting possibility
Vrabel missed Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft to seek counseling and be with his family. It was the first sign that this is actually a heavy weighing topic for Vrabel that could impact his ability (and availability) to coach the Patriots. If the leaks keep coming — there becomes too much negative energy for the NFL to overlook — then we very well may see this end with Vrabel’s resignation. While the Patriots have no plans for Vrabel to not be the head coach in 2026, things can change.
The leaks continued this week with the latest being photos of Vrabel and Russini being on a boat together in Tennessee when she was seven months pregnant, reported by TMZ. Waiver signatures showed both Vrabel and Russini on the boat with the former The Athletic NFL insider being the driver.
There are photos out there of Vrabel and Russini dating back at least six years, showing this was an alleged long-time affair. The best thing for Vrabel would be for this news to blow over and for new information to quit becoming available, but there’s just no sign of it happening right now. And if it doesn’t happen, it’s hard to see him being a distraction on the sidelines for New England in 2026.
There’s a world where Mike Vrabel ends up the head coach at Ohio State in the end
Ryan Day has been the head coach of the Buckeyes since 2019 and is entering his eighth season with the program in 2026. If the 47-year-old head coach decides to leave Columbus, it’s going to be to the NFL to be a head coach. Ohio State hired Day away from the NFL in 2017 to be their co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Day had previously been the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers.
Mike Vrabel’s background at Ohio State
- Vrabel played in Columbus from 1993-1996 and became a third-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1996 NFL Draft.
- After Vrabel’s NFL playing career finished, he returned to Ohio State in 2011 to begin his coaching career. Vrabel coached linebackers his first year, then coached the defensive line for two years.
At some point, it feels like Day is going to leap back to the NFL. As a competitor, why wouldn’t he want to lead a team at football’s highest level? Day’s son is a class of 2027 recruit in Columbus with several Power Four offers. The soonest it made sense for Ohio State’s head coach to leave is sometime after the 2026 season. It’s not to say he’s going to, but Coach Day was never leaving before RJ heads off to college.
The thing to remember here is that Day isn’t an Ohio native, he doesn’t have the Buckeye ties to the state despite him leveling up the program even more after taking over for Urban Meyer.
If Vrabel is to step away from the Patriots stemming from the noise that came from the alleged affair, it’d be a shock to see him coaching in the NFL again anytime soon. Vrabel would probably take a few years off, but football has been his life since he was a standout player at Walsh Jesuit in the early 1990s.
Say the Ohio State job opens up a few years from now, Vrabel would certainly be a qualified potential hire to be the next head coach in Columbus. Vrabel is a former Buckeye who became a draft pick, had a good NFL playing career, and has been a successful head coach at the highest level. Vrabel would probably connect well with recruits, even if the biggest matter these days is money for that part of roster building.
Nothing should be ruled out when it comes to the future at Ohio State if Day were to make the jump to the NFL. If he does and Vrabel is available, he just might be the betting favorite to be the next head man for the Buckeyes.