With his team at 0-3, his offense 30th in the league in yards gained and his defense dead last in yards allowed, Browns coach Eric Mangini is — predictably — urging patience. And he said owner Randy Lerner is down with the direction Mangini’s got the Browns headed in.
”Randy’s been great,” Mangini said, according to Stephanie Storm of the Akron Beacon Journal. “He’s committed to the things that we’re equally committed to. When [former Browns coach] Bill [Belichick] first got to New England, there were some tough times there. It was tough at the beginning of the next year. But I know how we approached it, I know the way that we worked. It took time. But when it hit, it hit.”
He’s right. Belichick and personnel man Scott Pioli were so disenchanted with the makeup of the Patriots when they got there in 2000 Patriots, they actually began that season with fewer than 53 players on their roster. And, when they started the 2001 season 0-2 and lost Drew Bledsoe to injury, they were widely regarded as the worst team in the league and local speculation had Belichick getting fired before the season was out.
But percolating on that Patriots roster were veterans Belichick and personnel man Scott Pioli had imported that were bringing up the level of commitment in New England. Guys like Brian Cox, Anthony Pleasant and Bobby Hamilton. They also had a future Hall of Fame quarterback itching for a chance to get on the field in Tom Brady.
In Cleveland, we’ve heard there’s sweeping malaise and, as Mike Florio reported last month, the Browns’ dysfunction may well work against them in trying to attract players going forward. And the only Brady they have just got benched this week.
We (or I, actually) don’t love piling on Mangini. He’s forgotten more football in a night’s sleep than I’ve ever known andI know how hard he’s worked to get where he is. I’ve had more than a couple of enjoyable conversations with him. But there’s a severe disconnect between the coach and team-builder he’s capable of being and what he’s wrought so far in Cleveland.
Maybe he would have been better off if his second head coaching job came five years after being fired from his first, as Belichick’s did after he got canned by the Browns. Then, maybe Mangini would have been able to formulate a different approach to the job instead of just rolling over the same philosophies and bedside manner that led to him being jettisoned by the Jets after three seasons.
For his sake, Mangini better hope Lerner is as patient as Mangini believes him to be. Because third chances don’t roll around very often.
“And he said owner Randy Lerner is down with the direction Mangini’s got the Browns headed in.”
”Randy’s been great,” Mangini said.
The blind, leading the blind!
If Mangini turns this all around and we end up like the Patriots some day, I’m going to feel really bad about alot of things I’ve said. And even worse about the things I’m going to say tomorrow at about 1:08 when the Bengals are up 14-0.
When did the cloning of Bill Belichick take place?
Finally, a fair assessment of the Mangini situation.
Now, although idiots do not usually follow directions…I hereby direct all morons, idiots, knuckleheads and football know-nothings to insert comments with the “words” Mangina, Mankok and the like in the space below this.
only norv turner gets third chances
And if the fans aren’t patient, he’ll just start sending fine to season ticket holders for not following the company line.
Mangini is going to win 3 Super Bowls any day now. Just trying to get the spy cameras installed in the right locations in Brown’s stadium. So far, he hasn’t been able to see the defensive signals as well as they did in Foxborough. Also, he’s still trying to get better control of how to turn the opposing qb’s helmet headset system on and off, like they did in New England.
Curran,
Did you, Mangini, or both try and compare Eric Mangini to William Stephen Belichick? Are you kidding me? The only comparisions that can be made are the following: They both coached the Browns, they both worked for the Pats, and they both worked for Bill Parcells at one point…But that’s it.
Mangini might have great football knowledge, but Head Coach knowledge is something far beyond the great football mind. It is his fourth game in, the Browns are not set to get better next season, and he is asking the fans for patience? He might as well just beg the fans not to boo him on Sundays or Mondays (See week #10).
I am a die hard. Love the Browns. Mangini is the MOST qualified of the 5 head coaches we have had since ’99. You have to be realistic when looking at the task at hand. We suck! It wil be 3 years, until his program is fully installed and operating. Only then, can we say whether or not he is a good coach. The problem is, most Browns fans have completely lost their patience and are not willing to allow a rebuilding process. I hipe he keeps his course and fight through this. It cant be worse than what we have had over the last 10 years.
OK – I guess I can be a little more patient and wait for Lerner to fire Mangini.
“Sweeping malaise.” That’s a great term. Not for the Browns, unfortunately.
There are no third acts in American football
mangina, i think there’s a loose bellicheck pube stuck inbetween your front teeth, might want a toothpick…
“Nothing more detestable does the earth produce than an ungrateful man”
Ausonius quotes (Latin poet, c.310 – c.395)
There’s a minor difference between the two situations…..
Belichick was fired, and went back to honing his craft under Parcells before his second attempt as a head coach.
Mangini has learned nothing from, or since, his unsuccessful tenure as New York’s head coach.
On one hand it is fair for the new leadership to ask for patience. However, as a Browns fan and season ticket holder I am still paying NFL prices for the right to attend Browns games. The money I’m paying is to watch NFL caliber effort. Ask any realistic Browns fan and they will say that we want a Team that we can be proud of, not a team that is a punchline for the national media. I will be patient once I’m not being charged a premium for subpar effort.
Uhm, are you all forgetting what tree crenell dropped out of also?
While it would be nice to see Mangina get fired, we still have a douche owner and he would just replace him with another jagoff.
Curran,
Did you, Mangini, or both try and compare Eric Mangini to William Stephen Belichick? Are you kidding me?
————–
Granted Mangenius is better thn any Browns coach of recent memory, but as you mention he really needed some time off before coming back. Year away lets you stand back and gain a better point of view at whats going on and where things went bad.
Now he just has Favre playing up his bicep injury as if that is the only reason the Jets ended up doing horrible in the second half last year.
Mangini will def be out of the NFL once he fails with the browns. Good Riddance
JoeSixPack says:
October 3, 2009 10:31 PM
OK – I guess I can be a little more patient and wait for Lerner to fire Mangini.
HA HA! Joe you are one clever wit! ( say that five times as fast as you can ) How many of you idiots actually tried it? Anyway, Joe quit it you’re killing us. My friend says you’re stupid but I stuck up for you and said that you aren’t! A few more of these comments on your part and I’m afraid I won’t be able to cover for you any more.
I shaved my balls for this?
Urging patience? lol Patience ? Kinda of like the patience you showed with Brady Quinn, Coach? How much “patience” are you going to show when DA starts bouncing fastballs off his receivers on short throws and the turnover-a-rama begins ? It’s going to be musical starting QB’s all season long.
yeah brownswinner, I can see what he did with the J-E-T-S in three years there.
You can paint a turd pretty colors, but it’s still a turd. Mangini is no Bill Belichick, no matter how hard you wish it to be.
well at least he called crabtree right !
“Randy’s been great,” Mangini said, according to Stephanie Storm of the Akron Beacon Journal. “He’s committed to the things that we’re equally committed to. When [former Browns coach] Bill [Belichick] first got to New England, there were some tough times there. It was tough at the beginning of the next year. But I know how we approached it, I know the way that we worked. It took time. But when it hit, it hit.”
So now Mangini thinks he’s Bill Belichick? Based off of what, getting fired last year from the Jets?
I think the best thing Mangini could do to build team moral is to make the entire team, coaches and trainers included, take a 15 hour bus ride and pick up trash on the side of the highway. Of course Mangini will be waiting there for them, after he flew 1st class…
Yeah I remember Savage and Romeo gave us this same line of crap. Be patient, things will get better in an few years…. Atleast come up with an original excuse Mangini, we all have heard this one before.
What the hell has Mangini ever done but be sleazy? I lived his move making the rookies go to his camp, they took a bus and he flew. What has he ever accomplished except to convince some clueless people Belichick rubbed off on him?
All he was on the Pats during the SB runs was DB coach. Belichick gave him a huge break making him DC and he stabbed him in the back, twice. The man is a joke. And the people that have hired him have gotten pretty much what they deserve…. nothing.
You can’t blame the Cleveland fans for the way they feel. You’ve got to live here, and see the crap we see with our pro sports teams every day and every day. It causes you to have a very short fuse when it comes to “patience”
“Maybe he would have been better off if his second head coaching job came five years after being fired from his first, as Belichick’s did after he got canned by the Browns. Then, maybe Mangini would have been able to formulate a different approach to the job instead of just rolling over the same philosophies and bedside manner that led to him being jettisoned by the Jets after three seasons.”
Thanks for piece Tom. I think it is a fair assessment.
I have one serious questions I would love to ask Mangini…
How is the current coach Belichick of the Pats different than the one that coached the Browns in the late 90s?
PFT has lots of media friends. Can someone please ask him to compare the two?
Mangini is now, has been, and always will be a fat piece of cow dropping taking up space in this universe. Controversy follows him everywhere because of his lack of people skills and the ability to influence team members positively. Good luck Browns fans—you deserve better.
Mangini brought over a bunch of players from his losing Jets team, alienated a lot of the current Browns players, and then is surprised when he doesn’t do well.
To Browns fans: As a lifelong Bengal fan, I feel your pain. We also have had a lot of mediocrity the last 20 years. Things are finally looking up for us though. We finally have a defense. Next year, you will probably have #1 or #2 pick in the draft and will be able to get your franchise QB. Mangini will probably be gone, and maybe things will get better.
If you don’t want to wait anymore, come on over to the Bengals. We are on our way up.
urbusted says: HA HA! Joe you are one clever wit! ( say that five times as fast as you can ) How many of you idiots actually tried it? Anyway, Joe quit it you’re killing us. My friend says you’re stupid but I stuck up for you and said that you aren’t! A few more of these comments on your part and I’m afraid I won’t be able to cover for you any more.
I must be stupid.
If there’s a biting, humorous, witty, or intelligent barb in the above paragraph I’m failing to see it.
And is someone actually offended that I suggest Lerner may in fact one day fire Mangini? Is that really that “stupid”?
Wow, just when I think I couldn’t hate the mangenius any more he dares compare his stint in Cleveland to Belichick’s there. Belichick also learned from the errors he made in Cleveland. Doesn’t appear mangini has done the same with his stint in NY to date.
Also, Randy L is in no way even CLOSE to being the owner Kraft is. He’s a wannabe wreaking havoc with the “toy” daddy left him.
“brownswinner says:
October 3, 2009 10:17 PM
I am a die hard. Love the Browns. Mangini is the MOST qualified of the 5 head coaches we have had since ’99. You have to be realistic when looking at the task at hand. We suck! It wil be 3 years, until his program is fully installed and operating. Only then, can we say whether or not he is a good coach. The problem is, most Browns fans have completely lost their patience and are not willing to allow a rebuilding process. I hipe he keeps his course and fight through this. It cant be worse than what we have had over the last 10 years.
”
You are right about something. Your team is not as talented as the rest. Here lies the problem, Mangini had 7 or 99(can’t remember exact amount) pro bowlers on his Jets’s team. How did they fare? They came in 3rd in their division.
Now you want him to coach players that aren’t as talented. Please.. that’s just a bomb waiting to explode.