As Fox Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer hosted his annual day-drinking pool party for NFL head coaches at the Arizona Biltmore on March 31, ESPN and former New York Times reporter Dianna Russini organized a competing gathering across the same pool — one that included New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and drew the attention of coaches and their wives, according to a report Friday.
Glazer’s 18th annual event drew 28 of the league’s 32 head coaches, he said in a social media post at the time. Vrabel was not among them. Instead, two sources told podcast host Pablo Torre that Russini effectively hosted a rival party with Vrabel and a small group of other coaches at cabanas on the opposite side of the Biltmore’s pool area during the NFL’s annual league meetings, which ran from March 29 to April 1.
Still making calls.
But one thing: days after those photos in Sedona were taken, two sources say Dianna Russini organized a rival day-drinking party with Mike Vrabel at the Biltmore pool — right in front of Jay Glazer’s party and 28 NFL head coaches. https://t.co/cimmREcFSB
— Pablo Torre 👀 (@PabloTorre) April 24, 2026
“All of these head coaches across the pool and their wives, I am told, started talking about Vrabel and Russini,” Torre said on his “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast. The conversations, Torre added, treated the pair’s situation as an open secret even before photos from a Sedona, Arizona, resort surfaced publicly.
Those photos, taken three days earlier on March 28, showed Russini and Vrabel — both married to other people — spending time together at a luxury hotel pool, including holding hands on a float and relaxing in a hot tub. The images, first reported by Page Six and others, prompted denials from both that anything romantic was occurring. They described the outing as a friendly gathering with others who were simply out of frame.
Russini, who covered the NFL for ESPN before joining The Athletic and later resigning, and Vrabel have not commented publicly on Torre’s latest account of the pool parties. Glazer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The dueling events unfolded amid the league meetings, a time when coaches, executives and media typically mingle at the resort. Torre, citing sources with direct knowledge, described Russini’s gathering as an attempt to draw coaches away from Glazer’s well-established party.
The report has reignited online discussion about the boundaries between journalists and the coaches they cover. Torre framed the episode as part of a larger conversation about whether reporters can maintain insider access while remaining independent.
Russini and Vrabel have called the broader infidelity claims “laughable” in statements to some outlets, insisting the Sedona photos lacked context and that they were there with friends. No evidence of wrongdoing by either has been presented beyond the photos and the reported poolside gathering.
The NFL has not commented on the situation.
Flip the pages for photos of Vrabel and Russsini together at the pool.
