The winds have died down around the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini controversy, but that doesn\u2019t mean the New England Patriots coach is out of the woods yet.<\/p>\n
The Athletic\u2019s investigation into former NFL insider Russini\u2019s reporting<\/a> around Vrabel and other topics, which will be released publicly, is still a few weeks out<\/a>.<\/p>\n Not to mention, there\u2019s no telling when Russini might break her silence and drop a tell-all<\/a>.<\/p>\n After attempting to laugh off the photos of him and Russini together as \u201claughable,\u201d Vrabel has tried to half-heartedly apologize and hope everyone moves on.<\/p>\n Crisis communication experts have long said that until the NFL coach fully comes clean in an authentic way, the wound at the center of this controversy will continue to be picked at<\/a>.<\/p>\n Molly McPherson, a crisis communications and strategy expert, has been saying for some time<\/a> that the strategy won\u2019t work. And she reiterated that stance this week in an interview with USA Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cVrabel is running, in my opinion, a staged rehabilitation, albeit somewhat clumsily,\u201d McPherson told USA Today Sports. \u201cEverything he\u2019s doing is sequenced to move from that initial denial in the beginning to where we are now.\u201d<\/p>\n McPherson told USA Today that she would suggest Vrabel do a sit-down interview with a news outlet where he could lay out the truth and take full accountability.<\/p>\n \u201cHe still hasn\u2019t taken accountability, so people are still going to look for it,\u201d she said. \u201cAccountability that only activates when you get caught isn\u2019t accountability. And Mike Vrabel hasn\u2019t taken any accountability. He\u2019s only spoken publicly about what he\u2019s doing privately as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n McPherson added that it\u2019s not as though many people are calling for Vrabel\u2019s job because of the scandal. If anything, the lack of fear around losing his position should invite more accountability.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are not holding NFL coaches to a moral standard where they can never cheat, and if they cheat they have to lose their jobs,\u201d McPherson said.<\/p>\n