NEED TO KNOW
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Mike Vrabel met his wife, Jen Vrabel, when they were student-athletes at Ohio State University
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The former NFL player and his wife of over 20 years share two sons
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The New England Patriots head coach has expressed his gratitude for Jen’s continuous support
Off the field, Mike Vrabel has a teammate in his wife, Jen Vrabel.
The couple met at Ohio State University, where Jen noticed Mike in class and got his number through their professor, according to The Tennessean. After connecting, the student-athletes dated, and Jen continued studying when the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Mike in the 1997 draft.
The following year, Jen graduated with a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene, and by 1999, she and Mike were married. Since then, the pair have experienced special milestones together, including welcoming two children.
On the field, Mike’s professional football career spanned over a decade, earning accolades with three different teams, until he retired in 2011. Afterward, the Super Bowl-winning player went on to coach at his alma mater. Mike credits his wife for challenging him “to get into the NFL after spending some time at Ohio State.”
In a press conference introducing him as the Tennessee Titans’ head coach in 2018, Mike spoke about Jen, thanking her for her support. “I love her to death,” Mike said. “She’s been through a lot, and she understands this league.”
The former linebacker expressed his gratitude again in 2025 when he returned to his old team, the New England Patriots, as head coach. “I want to thank Jen, who’s been along for this ride for quite a while,” he shared.
So who is Mike Vrabel’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Jen Vrabel and her relationship with the NFL star.
She was a student-athlete at the Ohio State University
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Mike Vrabel and his wife Jen in January 2015
Both Mike and Jen attended Ohio State University, although they didn’t earn their diplomas at the same time.
She graduated from the Big Ten School in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene, according to an Ohio State Buckeyes press release. Meanwhile, he returned to the college in 2004 to earn his bachelor’s degree in exercise science.
“Ohio State has had a great impact on the lives of my wife and me,” the NFL coach said in 2006.
Like her husband, Jen was a college athlete. While Mike played football, she was on the school’s volleyball team from 1993 to 1996.
According to the Ohio State Buckeyes website, she was a two-time AVCA All-District selection, in addition to a two-time All-Big Ten and Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
She made the first move after seeing Mike in class
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Mike Vrabel and his wife Jen in May 2017
Jen first noticed Mike in their freshman lecture class on time management, according to a 2018 interview with The Tennessean.
She told the outlet that he sat at the front of the classroom and always talked. Eventually, she “found him funny enough to ask the professor for his phone number,” and they “quickly became inseparable.”
Mike was drafted to the NFL the year before Jen graduated from Ohio State. The Steelers selected the football player in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft.
They have been married for over 25 years
Billie Weiss/Getty
Robert Kraft with Mike Vrabel and his wife Jen as Mike is announced as head coach of the New England Patriots on January 13, 2025 in Foxborough, Massachusetts
While Mike and Jen haven’t revealed many details about their relationship, they wed in 1999.
The pair celebrated 25 years of marriage in 2024 with a 10-day trip to Italy, which The New York Times described as the coach’s “first true vacation … maybe ever.”
She and Mike share two sons
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Mike Vrabel and his wife Jen with their kids in June 2014
After tying the knot, Mike and Jen became parents to sons Tyler and Carter.
The former linebacker, who first signed with the Patriots before the 2001 season, admitted in a 2018 press conference that he missed the birth of his second son, Carter.
“I’m not proud to say this, but I’m just going to tell you about my wife. She gave birth to Carter, I missed it, I was at practice, she was in Ohio,” Mike said. “He came early, he flipped, they had to take her. I showed up four hours late because I was playing football and she was having a baby.”
Naturally, the boys grew up surrounded by football. “They’ve been around the NFL locker room since they’ve been born,” he added.
Since then, the couple’s kids have followed in their athletic footsteps. In 2017, Tyler committed to Boston College, where he was an offensive tackle. Five years later, he was added to the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad, per an announcement.
Meanwhile, Carter committed to play baseball at Wabash Valley College and later played at Volunteer State Community College and Tennessee Tech.
She and Mike “cherish” their downtime together
Timothy T Ludwig/Getty
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel before a game on October 5, 2025 in Orchard Park, New York
Mike and Jen “cherish” their Friday evenings together. In 2019, Jen revealed to ESPN that “Fridays are always” their nights because they had a teenage son who, at the time, did not want to “hang out with Mom and Dad.”
“It’s fun. He’s usually home earlier, and we grab dinner,” she said. “When he coached in college, he really didn’t have a night like that, so we cherish that night. It was the same when he played.”
Jen continued, “Fridays were always the best. It became like a date night or family night.”
Read the original article on People
