Another Potential Reason Mangini Was Retained
Written By: Craig Lyndall | Category: Cleveland Browns | Comments: 28
Eric Mangini is back for next year at least, and now there is a new reason to consider. Yes the team didn’t quit on Mangini and they played solidly and maybe even over their heads down the stretch under his tutelage. But let’s think about it a different way. Let’s look at two other coaches around the league in Dallas’ Wade Phillips and San Diego’s Norv Turner. Wade Phillip was on the proverbial hot seat in Dallas all year long and not only did he get his option for 2010 picked up, he was given an extension by Jerry Jones. Similarly, in San Diego I think fans were relatively shocked to wake up one morning to find out that San Diego’s coach Norv Turner was given an extension after losing to the Jets 17-14 in the playoffs. So, what gives? Three coaches who were on the hot seats for various reasons, and all are coming back in 2010 and possibly beyond.
Well, I was listening to Opie and Anthony last week and they had Chris “Maddog” Russo on the show from Miami where he was covering the Superbowl. During that segment of the show Russo mentioned something interesting. He claimed that he had heard insider rumblings that the recent coaching extensions and moves were being affected by some of the more macro type situations around the NFL.
As most fans know, 2010 is an uncapped year meaning that there will be no salary cap and no salary floor. The NFL owners seem to have every intention of playing hardball with the players’ association. As a result it seems that a lockout could be a real possibility in 2011. So the insider rumblings that Russo reported claimed that a lot of the current coaching moves were made with an eye on retaining stability going into 2011 in case there is a shortened schedule or missed time around training camps. The idea being, even in a strike shortened season, a team that has had consistency in coaching, gameplan and approach will be able to get started that much faster than one with a new coach and a relative unfamiliarity between the players and the staff.
Now, obviously this is me applying conjecture to an insider rumbling that was reported third hand from radio row at the Super Bowl, but doesn’t it make sense? You can argue that Mangini earned the right to come back or that he didn’t, but combine a solid second half of the season with these larger looming NFL issues, and it makes even that much more sense.
Author: CraigLyndall
Craig Lyndall has been writing about all the Cleveland sports teams at WaitingForNextYear since September 2008. When he isn't, you can find him selling insurance or playing music. Follow WFNYCraig on Twitter.Craig Lyndall has written 434 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
I the cases of Mangini and Phillips, I had heard this as reasoning for their retention about a month or so ago… It does make sense.
I would argue the opposite. If the guy coaching your team right now (be it Turner Phillips, Haley, Cable, whomever) isn’t the right guy, dump him now and attempt to right the ship. If you don’t, you’re essentially writing off 2-3 seasons, and you still won’t have the right guy in place when the dust settles.
That’s just how I look at it though.
Have to agree with Chris here.
Old news, bad post.
Frowns agrees with a comment that implies Mangini is the right guy for the job? Shocker!
Actually I agree with Chris too.
@Chris, et al. One problem, if you dump said coach you have to sign a new one. Now if there is no season you are paying 2 coaches to do nothing.
Similarly, you can’t right the ship if you’re not practicing or playing, so how are you writing off the season, or even appropriately evaluating your new coach?
…or if you can Mangini and they don’t play football in 2011, wouldn’t the Browns be responsible for honoring Mangini’s contract during that period? Lerner would hate to have to pay while not earning. I am not expert on how prior contracts and lockouts work, but its something to think about…
Regardless, a team Mangini had a major hand in putting together went to the AFC championship this season… and we all know what the Browns did the last 4 of this season… he earned the benefit of another season.
Has anyone ever found out what those three or four questions were that The Big Show gave Mangini to think about overnight prior to their meeting?
@scharfna Then cancel your subscription and we’ll refund all your money.
I’ve heard this as well. A totally logical rationale IMO. Now that there’s some distance from the season, I’m (again) warming up to Mangini.
Time does crazy things like that.
“…a lot of the current coaching moves were made with an eye on retaining stability going into 2011 in case there is a shortened schedule or missed time around training camps.”
If I’m to correctly interpret this statement, it tells me that some coaches will keep their jobs even if it is believed by management that they are the wrong person for the job.
“so how are you writing off the season, or even appropriately evaluating your new coach?”
If you’ve already evaluated your coach, and extend him just for the sake of stability sans winning, you’ve written off your season. You’re talking about this upcoming season, 2011 (if there is a season) and 2012 (if there is not) before firing the guy who would be wrong for the job and hiring a new coach.
Also, I have a hard time believing that Jerry Jones would worry about paying Wade Phillips off to leave if he thought he was the wrong guy. He just sunk a billion of his own into that palace.
Love you, love the show!
100% from the “for what its worth” category….would you have guessed that Mangini’s ESPN.com approval rating at the end of the season was 69% in favor of him? Like ben, I am also warming back up to Mangini….
Chris, I am not saying you are wrong. All I am saying is that they might be using this “logic” as a reason of standing pat with a coach. It might be the totally wrong reason, but it is in fact a reason that could have been used. I was just throwing out what I heard.
@ Craig – Point taken. I was disagreeing more with Russo than the post.
@9
Craig, the National Lampoon used to tell complainers to “return the unread portion of your magazine and we’ll return the unspent portion of your money.”
Who still listens to Opie and Anthony? I didn’t even know they were on the air anymore
I personally think it was a mistake keeping Mangini but I have to defer to Holmgren and his expertise in the decision. Still part of me can’t but help feel some sort of doom in that after everything that has happened since the Browns resurrection that this will be yet another bad decision along with basically almost every other decision they’ve made over the years. Time will tell I suppose.
I’d like to think Mike “Don’t call me The Big Show” Holmgren kept Mangini because maybe, just maybe, he sees the coaching potential. It’s a far fetched idea, I know, but all these conspiracy theories are wearing on me.
@8/Mr.Cleaveland:
I think I know two of them.
1) “Who knows more about football than me?”
2) “Does thia sweater make me look fat?”
Adding onto Harv 21′s questions.
3) Do you like the nickname ‘Mangina’?
4) Can you get some of those ‘spygate’ tapes from Belichick?
@Chris, my bad. I read it as “the organizations are iffy on the coach” because I just skimmed the article (I know not getting my full monies worth, but I have to pretend to work sometimes).
I agree now, if they have determined the current coach is the wrong person for the job then they should just move on. However if the coach was deemed “adequate” this logic could be used to justify keeping them around.
Sorry, you lost me at Opie and Anthony.
I love how everyone needs to take a shot at Opie and Anthony because they like Howard Stern. It wasn’t the point of the article. I was just attributing. I listen so you don’t have to! Be happy for that.
No love for Bubba the Love Sponge? For shame.
OMG U DON’T LIKE THE SAME MUSIC I DO? U SUX
Think of it a bit differently:
Mangini did a nice job of turning things around and really setting a nice tone in the second half of the year. Holmgren gets brought in, and figures he can either try to put in someone he wants now and basically start over, or he can give Mangini a try at least for a year (especially on the D side) while giving pointers (mostly on the O side). If things go well, Holmgren looks great for sticking with Mangini. If they don’t, he can dump Mangini and say “look, I gave it a fair shot” and start to do things his way. Either way, Holmgren can only come out looking good.
The biggest winner in this is Holmgren, if the Browns looz then he can blame it on the coaching, and the play of the team… If they wins then he gets to take all of the credit.
All Holmgren has to do is push buttons now and get paid a handsome ransom for it.
Secondly the Cleveland Browns have something very cancerous within their organization and need a complete overhaul of their corporate culture.
There is no excuse for this organization to have never reached a Super Bowl. Many people knock Art Modell, yet if it were not for him we would not have been the team we once were… I’m speaking of the Brown’s that we all fell in love with not these guys that are just playing for a paycheck.
I’m vying for Troy Smith because it makes no sense to have a team full of guys that want to be in the NFL but don’t want to play for a championship. Perhaps we should take a second look at the desire and motivation each player has before he makes it to the team, whether or not he has the heart to succeed. Whether or not he has the commitment win.
Screw the draft, look how many coaches we run through… Chris Palmer, Butch Davis, Romeo Crenel, Eric Mangini, now we have Holmgren sitting in the booth with a remote control on Mangini.
It’s time for the Browns to produce and stick with a plan and tweak it til it works and bring in players like Smith.