May 21, 2013

Mangini vs. McDaniels

June 16, 2009 by 7 Comments

Let’s be up front and honest here.  This race is way way way too early to call.  Still, as I was watching the scroll on ESPN yesterday proclaiming that Brandon Marshall has demanded a trade from the Denver Broncos, I couldn’t help but think about it.  I vowed after the off-season hiring of Mangini and Kokinis to monitor the other high profile situations in Denver and Kansas City where regime changes were taking place.  After a rocky start, I think you would have to say so far so good for Eric Mangini.  I also think you would have to take his early returns as Browns fans over the early “returns” of McDaniels in Denver.

Granted Mangini got off to a real rocky start with one of the only bona fide Pro Bowlers on the team in Shaun Rogers.  Granted there were questions about his trade of Kellen Winslow.  Granted Mangini seems almost magically drawn to previous Jets players.  But even with all that said, he hasn’t run a Pro Bowl caliber QB and now a Pro Bowl caliber wide receiver out of town.  And as soon as Winslow signed that super duper expensive deal making him the highest paid tight end in the league (IN THE LEAGUE) even the angriest of Browns fans had to give Mangini a pass on trading K2.

Again, I will say it is early and the story is far from over.  It may end up being that everybody involved ends up with good coaches and good teams.  Still, it is hard not to sit here thinking that the Browns are a bit better off with the Eric Mangini story than Denver is with the Josh McDaniels story.  They are set to start the season with Kyle Orton in the mix as their starting QB.  They seemingly haven’t fixed their defense.  Now they appear to be on the verge of losing the most productive receiver on the team.  For all the questionable moves and interesting pickups and signings, you have to feel that the Browns are at least a deeper team today than they were last year even if they haven’t answered a whole lot of questions yet.

Again, much too early to call, but I am not exactly pining away for Josh McDaniels right about now.

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  • MrCleaveland

    All the Mangini-bashing by the media is getting old. Livingston was the latest this morning. I couldn’t care less if the coach doesn’t suck up to the media and spoon-feed them.

  • JM

    Livingston doesn’t deliver much these days anyway.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com DP

    So, Craig, I’m not sure if I understand you… are you saying it’s too early to call?

    I admit, I was not anywhere close to pro-Mangini when they made the hire, mainly because I thought the hiring process of Mangini as well as Kokinis was highly flawed (and regardless of how it might work out, I still do). But, the thesis of this article is right; after the Rogers fiasco (which has apparently been worked out), Mangini has done a pretty good job of seemingly getting things in line and building some depth. The Browns aren’t a juggernaut by any stretch relative to talent, but they definitely did something this off-season they haven’t done in years-past: build some depth.

  • JPS3

    If we are talking “winners and losers”, the real “winner” in all of this is Mike Shanahan. After Denver wins no more than 4 games this season, others in the league are going to remember just how good he was for the Broncos and someone like the Redskins are going to give him a massive contract to coach their team in 2010.

  • Andrew S

    renewing the rivalry with Denver would be awesome, especially with their roster in bigger shambles than the Browns’. Just got done reading a book about the Browns move, and I can’t help but remember another young new coach for the Browns who was a little prickly towards the media. That coach was hated here, lets hope Mangini can be a little more media friendly than that coach.

    (If you don’t know the identity of that coach you haven’t been a Browns fan for very long)

  • http://sonsofnev.wordpress.com The Seaward

    Andrew S, I can’t say I care for that comparison because that coach achieved his greatest success after leaving Cleveland.

    (Though it *was* after his first job, so hmm…)

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  • WorldBFat

    I was not a huge fan of the Mangini hire at the time, and I am still skeptical until I see some game day action.

    However, Mangini > McDaniels as a head coach is looking like a no brainer. In fact, a cluster of delicious tomatoes > McDaniels makes sense about now.

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