Mangenious

The Cleveland Browns have made it official today....they have hired a new Head Coach. Leading the Browns next season will be Eric Mangini....yes the same Eric Mangini who was just let go by the Jets.

Now while the Jets didn't think Mangini was good enough, I actually don't think he will be a bad fit for the Browns. Mangini actually started his football career working for the Cleveland Browns as a ball boy (obviously several years ago). He impressed the people above him, including Bill Belichick, and eventually worked his way up to becomer an assistant to Belichick for the Browns back in 1995.

Mangini coached the New York Jets for three years (2006-2008), with the following records:

2006: 10-6
2007: 4-12
2008: 9-7

After such a successful rookie season as head coach, the NY media labelled him "Mangenious"....however the magic didn't carry over to 2007, as you can tell. This off-season, the Jets signed Brett Favre (as a note, Mangini was the only person in the front office who did not approve of this deal). The season started off very good, as the Jets boasted an 8-3 record after 11 games, including a win over the 'then-unbeaten' Tennessee Titans. However, a 1-4 finish (dropping them to 3rd in their division and missing the playoffs again) sealed Mangini's fate, although many (including myself) would argue that such a result was Favre's fault, and not Mangini's.

There is a really great blog I found while doing research today that talks about how Favre was the problem in New York, not Mangini. There are several similar articles all throughout the web if you take the time to do a Google search.

If there is one thing the 2008 edition of the Browns could have used, it was discipline. The Browns were sloppy on and off the field, committing stupid penalties, dropping passes and even injuring each other in the pre-season.

Mangini is rumored to have already hired his new coordinators:

Offensive Coordinator: Brian Daboll
(QB coach for the NY Jets)


Defensive Coordinator: Rob Ryan
(DC for the Oakland Raiders)


While I don't know a lot of history on these guys, all I will say is.......at least they aren't Romeo Crennel.


Next up is the continuing saga of the Browns search for a General Manager. It now looks like the leading candidate will be George Kokinis, current Pro Personnel Director for the Baltimore Ravens, and a close personal friend of Eric Mangini. Randy Lerner (Browns owner) will be interviewing Kokinis sometime after the Ravens divisional game against the Tennessee Titans this weekend.

While I wasn't too hot on Kokinis with the limited amount of reading I had done on him in the past couple of weeks, I have started to warm up to the idea of having him as our GM. If he's a friend of Mangini and they can work together, that's already more than we can say for the previous Savage/Crennel era.