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Source: Browns to interview Mangini
- COMMENT: Who should be the next Browns coach?
- ARCHDEACON: Browns will be in better shape than Bengals
- MCCLELLAND: Please, no more rookie GMs, coaches
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns have scheduled an interview Tuesday with fired New York Jets coach Eric Mangini, a person with knowledge of the meeting told The Associated Press.
Mangini, dismissed Monday by the Jets after they collapsed down the stretch and missed the playoffs, will meet with Browns owner Randy Lerner in the New York area, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the interview.
Lerner has set up an interview for Wednesday with Scott Pioli, New England's vice president of player personnel, the person said.
Lerner also received permission to interview Atlanta president Rich McKay. Falcons owner Arthur Blank granted the request as his team prepares for a wild-card game on Saturday. McKay's interview is expected to take place on Thursday.
"Rich has had some casual conversations — I don't think with Randy, but with someone else in their organization — but there have been no discussions on a face-to-face basis," Blank told the AP. "We think Rich is an important part of the success of the franchise. He's responsible for all the business side of our operations, helps (GM) Thomas (Dimitroff) tremendously with the salary cap and all of the (contract) negotiations, and he's responsible for helping us as we go on a journey for a new stadium and a whole variety of other things.
"We're hopeful Rich will stay in Atlanta and we certainly believe that, but on the other hand, we have to let the process take its course."
Lerner wants to interview as many candidates as quickly as possible because he's competing with several other teams.
Lerner, who lives on Long Island, has scheduled meetings with other coaching candidates, including New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, and New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who played college ball at John Carroll in Cleveland.
Spagnuolo, who is also expected to talk with the New York Jets on Saturday, could meet with Lerner as early as Wednesday.
Another name that has surfaced in Cleveland's coaching search is Iowa's Kirk Ferentz.
The Boston Herald reported that if Pioli is hired, his first choice for coach would be Ferentz, who worked with Pioli in Cleveland for three seasons.
Ferentz said he hasn't been contacted by the Browns.
"I've gotten into the habit of not commenting on that," he said in Tampa, Fla. as the Hawkeyes prepared for Thursday's Outback Bowl. "I've got a great job. I'm happy here. I've been at Iowa 10 years, so not much else to say on that topic."
Pioli and Mangini both began their NFL careers in Cleveland under coach Bill Belichick and spent several seasons together with the Patriots.
Mangini, who started out as a public relations assistant with Browns in 1994, went 23-26 in three seasons and made the playoffs once with the Jets. However, after starting the season 8-3, the Jets lost to Denver, San Francisco, Seattle and Miami in the last five weeks, costing Mangini his job
The Browns are in complete rebuilding mode after coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Phil Savage were fired following a 4-12 season that began with playoff expectations coming off a 10-win season in 2007.
Lerner was unaware of Mangini's firing when he met with reporters at Browns headquarters in Berea on Monday. But after learning of the 37-year-old's ouster in New York, Lerner indicated he would approach Mangini, who had one year remaining on his contract with the Jets.
Mangini has ties to the Cleveland area. He is the brother-in-law of Cleveland Indians general manager Mark Shapiro.
Lerner began his search hoping to lure former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher to Cleveland. But during a meeting in New York on Saturday, Cowher told Lerner he had no plans to coach in 2009 and wanted his name removed from the list of candidates.
A Mangini-Pioli reunion in Cleveland would be interesting. The Belichick disciples worked closely in New England, where they were part of three Super Bowl-winning teams. But their relationship was tested after the infamous "Spygate" episode when Mangini accused the Patriots of videotaping the Jets' defensive signals during the 2007 season opener.
Lerner wants to make sure they've patched up any differences before moving forward.
Mangini's hiring could also lead to Crennel staying with the Browns, perhaps as their defensive coordinator. Crennel told Lerner he was open to staying, depending on who was brought in to replace him. Crennel and Mangini worked as defensive assistants on Belichick's staff in New England from 2001-2004. When Crennel took the Cleveland job in 2005, Mangini replaced him as Belichick's coordinator.
Mangini took over a 4-12 team in 2006 and led the Jets to a 10-6 record as a rookie, a turnaround that earned him the nickname "Mangenius" from the New York tabloids. But there was little love after the Jets went 4-12 last year, and in recent weeks Jets fans often aimed their frustration at Mangini.
Associated Press George Henry in Atlanta and AP freelance writer Mark Didtler in Tampa, Fla., contributed to this report.
Comments
By Larry Mueller
January 3, 2009 11:19 AM | Link to this
Martz would be able to make the most out of the talent with the Browns. They have young QB’s that have promise and Martz is the best in the game at developing QB’s. We all know what happened with the Rams great talent, 3 500 point seasons. He even out 7 wins out of those Lions that won 0 without him. He improved the 49ers offense after the QB was replaced. The best that team looked in about 6 or 7 years.
Martz is worth the shot. I want to relive those early 1980 seasons with Sipe, etc.
By Jim
December 31, 2008 2:40 AM | Link to this
Head Coach - 1st - Mike Shannahan -146 NFL wins 2nd - Marty Shottenheimer - Winner GM - Scott Pioli - Winning organization - New England Off Coor - Shannahan or Shottenheimers son Def Coor - Romeo Crennel - Super Bowl Ring as D Coor Players enjoy playing for him - the team needs a major upgrade at D-back and Inside and Outside linebacker D-backs should both be backups. Wright and Wimbley might continue to improve - the others will not
By YEAH Borwns
December 30, 2008 11:28 PM | Link to this
i love the browns
By YEAH Borwns
December 30, 2008 11:25 PM | Link to this
yay browns
By YEAH Borwns
December 30, 2008 11:23 PM | Link to this
yay browns
By Go Browns
December 30, 2008 11:21 PM | Link to this
go browns
By Go Browns
December 30, 2008 11:21 PM | Link to this
go browns
By Browns fan 4 life
December 30, 2008 11:12 PM | Link to this
ive been a browns fan since b4 i could walk and no matter how bad the team gets im behind them 100%. Hopefully though they will get someone who is a proven winner. oh and all u Shitsburg Squeeler fans…..ur alls time will come when u arent even fit to eat the mud off of browns players cleats!!
By SMOKE WILSON
December 30, 2008 8:54 PM | Link to this
I’ve been a Cleveland sports fan since 1948,and I’ve finally come to the realization that there will NEVER be a Championship of ANY kind in that city again. The Indians, Browns and Cavs are all run by people who just go through the motions. Take the Browns for instance….they’ve been back in Cleveland for how many years 8-10 or so, just how many years does it take to REBUILD !! Cleveland has become the LOSER capital of the world !!!!!!!
By krugdawg
December 30, 2008 8:51 PM | Link to this
shannahan head coach romeo stays as def cord
By craig
December 30, 2008 8:00 PM | Link to this
Marty Schottenheimer, please sign Marty. Best coach and talent adviser available. he wants to return home to cleveland! please sign him
By Craig Robinson
December 30, 2008 6:40 PM | Link to this
I find it absolutely amazing how classless the majority of Pittsburgh’s fans are! I know they are not all bad because one of my best friends, whom I’ve known for over 30 years, is a Steelers fan. Having said that, most of them are idiots who don’t have a clue! Their apparently not old enough to have seen (or perhaps too stupid) to look up the history of their own franchise! For the first 30 years Pittsburgh was a laughing stock while the Browns were a powerhouse in the 40’s, 50’s & 60’s.
By BrownsClown
December 30, 2008 5:54 PM | Link to this
Lets face it, Cleveland Browns fans are just plain stupid. The last time the Browns won a championship was 44 years ago, and by the way that franchise moved to Baltimore. The Cleveland Browns copy cats will never win a Super Bowl. Pro football may have been born in Ohio, but the two teams that play in Ohio now have died. GO STEELERS!
By Greg Tampa Fl.
December 30, 2008 2:21 PM | Link to this
ha ha bungles 14 clowns 0 enough said losers ha ha
By 3rdGenerationBrownsFan
December 30, 2008 1:54 PM | Link to this
MARTY, MARTY, MARTY!!!!!!! Marty Schottenheimer is a proven winner and disciplinarian that the Browns need. It would only be right for Marty to come back and win a Super bowl for the team that gave him his first head coaching opportunity. Cower isn’t the answer he had that mystique with being the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Lets face it everywhere Marty has been he has turned the team around when ownership allowed him to do his job! Lets get the coaching situation right this time!!!
By PittsFan
December 30, 2008 10:46 AM | Link to this
OK - for all of you who bashed the Steelers, shut your mouths. Cleveland should be honored that Coach Cowher even looked their way when that job arose. And he did the right thing, in my opinion by saying no to you people - he has better things to do. Go find some second rate coach that may be able to get you guys at least a few wins…that way you can at least look half as good as us Pittsburgh fans :)
By usmale
December 30, 2008 10:31 AM | Link to this
It amazes me that if as a fan, you support a team that has had success, you cannot be happy with that. Either you are not really a fan of that team, you feel threatened by another team’s success, or you’re just plain ignorant. But happiness with your team winning brings you no happiness or class, you must run down an another team to make you jock strap feel full..
By Rex
December 30, 2008 10:23 AM | Link to this
I’ve been a Browns fan since my youth, about 50 years ago. Seeing several come and go, one common denominator is good players with talent mis-used or not used. Talent direction is directed by coaching.Its all about the coaching and until we get a good coach, we’ll never be the Browns of old’. Not being in the behind-door meetings, I would suspect there was a difference of opinions amoung the powers in control exempting the owner. Bad calls and no follow-through’s.
By bigmike34
December 30, 2008 10:22 AM | Link to this
MARTY MARTY MARTY:
He is the whole package…Don’t get the guy from NE doen’t ever get anything from NE again…Romeo was enough…
Get Marty give him the VP and Head Coach jobs and let him put together the staff the Whole staff…He can designate a GM, He would be the HC and the VP of football operations….HE IS IDEAL AND WOULD TAKE THAT JOB AND REALLY BUILD SOMETHING FOR US. When he tired of Coaching he would no doubt appoint his Son the HC and just oversee the entire operation
By Eric
December 30, 2008 10:22 AM | Link to this
BILL PARCELLS!!!! Hire Pioli as GM, and let him talk to his father-in-law. Connections, connections, connections!
By stevo
December 30, 2008 9:53 AM | Link to this
Rod Marinelli would e a good choice.
By Bill
December 30, 2008 7:48 AM | Link to this
Cowher is overrated. Look how many AFC championship games he lost as well as his first Superbowl, they should have beaten Dallas. He’s a chip off the block of his mentor Marty S., hate to say it but he couldn’t win the big game either. Mangini is a copy of Crennel, great guy, great coordinator but way too soft to be a head coach. Bring in Scott Pioli and Josh McDaniels or Steve Spagnuolo.
By LondonBrown
December 30, 2008 6:02 AM | Link to this
Hope springs anew after a season of solid misfortune; Pioli & McDaniels could be VERY good, and Mangini would be interesting (the Favre collapse was hardly his fault).
But even from the other side of the Atlantic at least know I won’t be cheering any other team on next year, or any other year for that matter.
Go Browns!
By Skip Brown
December 30, 2008 3:52 AM | Link to this
Ive been a Browns fan all my life, and i watched many times in dissapointment. Other teams only wish they had the fan base cleveland has. ive read how some bandwagon fans jump ship , that’s typical.we dont want u as afan of the Browns anywyas. Modell ruined a chance for glory . we will win again and when we do hopefully it will make u all sick. The owner is doing everything he can to put a great team out there. i dont want scower. i dont watch the cbs pre game show anywyas those guys will bore u
By ERIC RELIF
December 29, 2008 8:32 PM | Link to this
THE BROWNS SHOULD GET MARTY HE WOULD BE A GREAT FIT FOR THE TEAM IN ITS CURRENT CONDITION. THEY ONLY NEED A FEW PIECE’S FOR THE TEAM TO MAKE A SUPERBOWL RUN!!
By Dogpound
December 29, 2008 4:49 PM | Link to this
It’s so funny to hear you new and old Steeler fans mouth off…. you obviously need a life if you feel obligated to pick on us Browns fans. We’ve had a tough decade but will be back. Tomlin has done not a darn thing as a coach. He inherited a great team. We’ll see how his next 4 years go. Cowher, stay in the broadcast booth, as a Browns fan, I don’t want him near my team. We’ll see how the Pittsburgh faithful handle this year’s fold, in their first playoff game. Go Browns!
By Tomas
December 29, 2008 4:07 PM | Link to this
People who bailout on local teams for a “winner” are classless bums. If they don’t win, you quit. That is what is wrong with this country. For a long time there were a lot of UM fans because Cooper couldn’t beat them. Loyalty means nothing in Ohio. These same fans are no doubt Yankee and Laker fans as well. I will stay with the Browns, Reds, and OSU no matter how they fare. Go Ohio!
By Rick
December 29, 2008 3:43 PM | Link to this
browns and bengals will never do anything until there is a change of upper management. i became a steeler fan 12 yrs ago from being raised on the browns…. took me 40yrs to go to a winning team…. go steelers.
By VietVet
December 29, 2008 3:33 PM | Link to this
Browns gave Crennel more than enough chances. He should have been gone years ago. Now that he’s gone, don’t bring in retreads like Marty S. He’s had his chance. Need a proven talent developer, defensive mind, and for god sake, get a new group of qb’s. Dorsey has never been an NFL qb. His playing days were over at Miami-Fla. Quinn hasn’t really had a chance as yet. Anderson needs to go. How did the Dolphins lift themselves up from the bottom. Follow Miami’s plan.They have found success.
By Rick Burkart
December 29, 2008 3:06 PM | Link to this
Does Cleveland still have a team? I thought Mikey boy Brown took Cincinnati up there to play.
Why not just combine the two teams and still have a crappy team?
By joe
December 29, 2008 2:44 PM | Link to this
If I were a Browns fan I would be cursing mad too. Sam Wyche said it best when he addressed the snowball throwing fans in Riverfront. You stay classy Cleveland.
By who dey baby
December 29, 2008 2:32 PM | Link to this
hey browns fans im not only a bengalsfan im an ohio fan hope the browns get an elite coach if the bengals dont go hope the browns do good luck next year
By Brownstown
December 29, 2008 2:16 PM | Link to this
If your not a browns fan gtfo this page! I hope we go get Billick he demands 110% out of his players and he can build us a solid defense. Cowher don’t want the Browns job so he can go f**k himself along with the rest of the Pitt scum!
By Rusty
December 29, 2008 2:05 PM | Link to this
If Scott Pioli is hired away from New England as GM he will hire someone connected to the Parcells~Bellichek coaching lineage. Top 2 candidates: Eric Mangini or Josh McDaniels the current Coordinator for the Patriots. I’ve heard on radio sportstalk shows today names such as Brian Billick, Steve Mariuucci, and Mike Martz…sure hope they stay away from guys who weren’t successful in previous HC jobs in NFL!
By Steeler fan
December 29, 2008 1:49 PM | Link to this
Maybe you could get Pioli then bring back Belichick… Heaven knows the Clowns organization did everything they could to destroy him once… Do the NFL a favor and try again…
By John from CT
December 29, 2008 1:34 PM | Link to this
MARTY=playoffs No Elway= Superbowl
By BigJack
December 29, 2008 1:30 PM | Link to this
OK, I’m no Browns fan. I love the Steelers and frankly love watching the Cleveland team get trampled at every turn. That said, Rex Ryan, Russ Grimm or Ron Rivera could be good fits for this team. The return of Marty is another thing to consider. He could give this team some of the discapline it needs, but I think he’d be a better fit for the Bengals.
By Steeler fan
December 29, 2008 1:25 PM | Link to this
Sam Rutigliano…
By John from CT
December 29, 2008 1:03 PM | Link to this
The Browns have a history of winning not losing, that’s what upsets us fans. Mangini is not answer and Cowher said no. I like Marty, he’s a great coach, and there’s no Elway to stop him this time.
By S
December 29, 2008 12:46 PM | Link to this
I am glad Cowher does not want to come to the Browns. As a Browns fan, I do not want him as Cleveland’s coach.
By Joe
December 29, 2008 12:40 PM | Link to this
You Browns people don’t get it. You keep asking for retreads. If you had a real front office you’ll quit looking for the next big hype and build your team with excellence. The Steelers and Ravens didn’t go looking for a new hype man. They did their homework. They get coaches and players (draft) that are up and coming. They don’t throw money at retreads and hasbeens. Cowher coached for 16 years. When he was done the Steelers got another young coach. Tomlin has plenty of years left in him
By mistakebythelake
December 29, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this
Hey Browns fans……..rumor has it that John Elway was looking for a job as a head coach, maybe so he could “DRIVE” them towards a winning season perhaps……good luck!!
By mistakebythelake
December 29, 2008 12:19 PM | Link to this
Once again, you Cleveland Browns fans get what is expected………another loosing season. If Crennel was smart he would have not taken the extension and went elsewhere where he could have won a division title. Get a clue Brownie Fans!!!! Cowher is way to smart to be the Browns head coach, it would ruin his reputation and coaching record.
By Dario
December 29, 2008 12:00 PM | Link to this
boohoo, you have absolutely no idea what the browns bring to ohio. gtfo
By boohoo
December 29, 2008 11:32 AM | Link to this
it doesn’t matter who the coach is the browns are always losers. they win one game the fans act like it was the superbowl win. that’s the main reason people dislike the team. browns bring disrespect to ohio.
By john
December 29, 2008 11:31 AM | Link to this
Who should be the next Browns coach? The Bengals and the Browns should trade coaches; so I believe it will be Marvin Lewis.
…or after the Buckeyes lose another bowl game, Jim Tressel, which would assure the Browns of at least one win against the Michigan team (Detroit)!
By KEN
December 29, 2008 11:24 AM | Link to this
Cowher,Parcell,Jimmy Johnson,Ditka. Anybody with a proven track record.
By TOM
December 29, 2008 11:21 AM | Link to this
ROMEO( DID) GO
By M
December 29, 2008 11:07 AM | Link to this
Ugly Betty………
By Jack
December 29, 2008 10:57 AM | Link to this
Cowher will not go the the Browns.
By Dawg Dan
December 29, 2008 10:51 AM | Link to this
Cowher Power BABY!!!!!