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Home > Blogs > Dawging the Browns > Archives > 2009 > December > 20
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Is it time to give Mangini some credit?
His record says he should be gone tomorrow, but the Cleveland Browns have not quit, and for this it seems the head coach deserves some kind of nod.
Say what you will about Eric Mangini, but he still has the Browns playing hard deep into a dreadful season, as evidenced by this little two-game winning streak. And there’s something to be said for that.
It’s important to be fair over these final few weeks when evaluating Mangini lest we run the risk of discarding a guy who actually could be the long-term answer.
Despite all his goofy fines and other blunders, I think there’s been enough progress to go forward with Mangini and feel pretty good about it.
But now here comes Mike Holmgren, who apparently will have the final say on Mangini if he ever gets around to telling owner Randy Lerner what the heck he wants to do.
For the record, in case anybody cares, I don’t automatically think hiring Holmgren, in any capacity, is the perfect solution. And I don’t want him at all if he’s going to be in the front office second-guessing the coach, acting like a coach, still wishing he was a coach.
But if Holmgren actually comes to the Browns, he absolutely should be the coach, because coaching clearly isn’t out of his system just based on some of his comments over the past few days.
Meanwhile, what to make of Sunday’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs, who have a defense that couldn’t stop a backfield full of sportswriters.
It’s no great accomplishment, but it has to count for something, right? And it followed a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Surely Mangini should get credit for beating the Steelers in his first year, especially since the last time it had happened was two coaching regimes ago.
The Browns are a well-disciplined team, too, and that should count in Mangini’s favor as well. They are one of the least-penalized squads in the league, which admittedly gets lost in the shuffle of a season gone sideways.
All I know is that Don Shula always got the credit when his Miami Dolphins showed that kind of discipline.
So, too, should Mangini.
