Well, thank God the Romeo Crennel era is over in Cleveland. By all accounts - even after he was fired - Romeo is a stand-up guy, a great man of character. But that and $3.99 will get you a Starbucks coffee in today's NFL. He was a coach for the 1960s, caught trying to coach today's players. And when you are actively being criticized by Don Criqui and Dan Fouts is asking "Is anyone awake on the sidelines over there??", well, it's time to go.
So - here comes Mangini. On a scale of 1 to 10, with "1" being Art Shell and "10" being Vince Lombardi, I give this hiring a 7. I'm starting to like the hire.
- I believe he is the first Browns head coach to have NFL head coaching experience since Nick Skorich in 1971. That is, the last time we hired a coach with NFL experience as a head coach was before I was born. Over the past 10 years, we've tried the longtime assistant - Crennel; we've tried the young up and coming assistant (Chris Palmer), and we've tried the hotshot college coach (Butch Davis, who by far was the best coach we've had since the return). So let's try this. Look at the some of the recent coaching studs that we look up to:
- Belichick
- Dungy
- Coughlin
- Turner (no, no, scratch that.....)
What do they have in common? This is their second go around in the NFL.
- The fact that we are probably going to get Rob Ryan for a Def Coordinator (current job: D coordinator for the Raiders) excites me. Finally -an attacking defense? Wow!
- Really, what should a head coach do? A head coach doesn't need to know X's and O's - that's the coordiantor's job. They:
- need to know the rules of the game in and out (what happens when you force the opposing team to punt from their own 4 with :05 left?),
- need to know how to run a 2 minute drill (what a concept),
- need to get their team prepared for the game from the first minute, and
- should motivate/discipline the players.
The players LOVED playing for Romeo. They said as much. Why? Because they were never disciplined.
So far, it seems that Mangini is pretty good at all of the above. I'm not totally 100% in love yet, but I am optimistic.
2 comments:
Eric - this is probably going to surprise you. Despite what Mangini did with his role in SpyGate, I actually think he is a brilliant coach. Nobody remembers this because it was a first round game, but if you can find the 2006 playoff game between the Jets and NE - that was a classic chess match. The Jets were undermanned, and each side was completely throwing the kitchen sink at the other. I had never seen a game like this. Each side was trying to out wit the other. Running different formations, running guys on at the last minute, shuffling lineups in and out, going no huddle for a couple plays out of the blue, trick plays, really crazy stuff. In that game Mangini really proved his XOs chops, as well as his overall team preparedness. He matched BB and company step for step. I came away from that game thinking that Mangini would go on to be a great coach. There was a reason that BB was furious and practically begging him not to take the NYJ job in the first place.
Also, when he was in NE, Mangini was viewed as the real young, brilliant coach on that staff. Crennel and Charlie W. were good loyal soldiers who maybe someday would get their shot, but the feeling was that Mangini was the young star of the group.
Now, he is an outcast and BB and company won't even speak his name. The good news is that I know Pioli won't be going to Cleveland with Mangini as his HC - no way that happens.
When I heard about the hire, I caught the 2nd half of the boradcast, and heard them talking about getting someone out of the limelight of NY. I thought you had hired Steve Spagnuolo.
Oops.
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