QUOTE: “Keep on beginning and failing. Each time you fail, start all over again, and you will grow stronger until you have accomplished a purpose -- not the one you began with perhaps, but one you'll be glad to remember.” -- Anne Sullivan, American teacher (1866-1936)
A new beginning once again for the Cleveland Browns, as Mike Holmgren is officially in charge as team president. Last week in a radio interview in Seattle, here’s what he had to say about whether he would keep current head coach Eric Mangini:
“It would really be unfair for me to talk too much about that other than the fact that I like Eric Mangini. I think he's a good coach. He's a bright guy. He works very, very hard at his job and we have to see.”
Holmgren is struggling with the fact that he may be giving his coach only one year. He’s very sympathetic to coaches, feeling they need time to make their mark — good or bad. But now, Holmgren must take off his coaching cap and put on his executive cap and make decisions based on the reality of the situation. He must put his stamp on the organization and lay down his philosophy of team building. Each move he makes must be with the idea of building his own infrastructure. He was brought in to clean up a mess, to build the team for the future, to win a Super Bowl. He loved the Browns situation because there were no layers between him and the owner, so he has the authority to lead the team in his vision.
Having been in the 49ers program in the 1980s and the Bill Belichick program in the 1990s, I know firsthand that these two operations are not similar. From how they procure talent to the product on the field, they are very different from one another. Consequently, knowing how much of a control freak Mangini is, I think it will be hard for him to adapt to working for someone. How is he going to feel about players or coaches heading into the Big Show’s office? How is he going to feel when he’s not running the draft room or the free-agent meetings, as he did even when George Kokinis was the general manager? How is he going to feel about having to adapt to a new grading system for college and pro players after he put in his own system? How is he going to feel about being rejected when he wants to trade for another former Jet? How is he going to feel about not fielding phone calls from other teams about trade possibilities? How is he going to feel about not only working for Holmgren, but possibly working for a new general manager? Working around Mangini will be detrimental to the rebuilding process.
The key figure in building the new Cleveland Browns will be Holmgren’s close friend and agent, Bob LaMonte, who has a stable of available coaches and executives he can place in Cleveland to help support Holmgren. LaMonte hit the trifecta with Holmgren taking this job. Now he’ll make a huge fee for doing Holmgren’s contract and will continue to make fees for each new employee hired since most will come from his stable. This will be a very Merry Christmas for LaMonte.
For example, LaMonte represents Charlie Weis, the former Notre Dame coach who once coached Brady Quinn. So I can easily see Weis being involved with the coaching staff. But will Mangini want this? And will Weis want to work for Mangini, knowing it might be just a one-year job? But from my sources in the league, I hear that Weis will be given a chance to work in Cleveland. Whether he takes the job is another story.
The new general manager will also come from LaMonte’s stable because Holmgren is not going to bring in someone he hasn’t been with in the past. His bad experiences in Seattle working with someone he didn’t know will make this new general manager hire someone who’s very close to Holmgren or comes with LaMonte’s blessing. Holmgren will want this person to be someone who can run the operation as they have in the past; he’ll want someone who’s familiar with his approach to running free agency and the draft.
With all these changes coming to Cleveland, the question that must be answered first is: How does Mangini handle the changes and how does he adapt? For Holmgren to make his mark, he needs to start anew, think like an executive and clear the decks so he can lay his foundation. If he keeps Mangini and makes the move next year, he’s lost a season of repair.
From my experiences in the NFL, the best move Holmgren can make is to start fresh. A new beginning is what’s needed for the Browns.
Follow me on Twitter: michaelombardi
Browns
I imagine it's rare that a fan of another NFL team is jealous of the Browns, but as a Bears fan I have to say I am jealous right now. I wish the Bears were going to clean house from top to bottom, but I don't see that happening.
From a Browns fan I hope for our sake that Mike Holmgren does the complete opposite of what you say to do. Hey mike is Brady Quinn traded yet? Dear Santa for Christmas I want Mike Holmgren to live by this theory-WWMLND(What Would Mike Lombardi Not Do).
Sorry guys for leaving the dumbest comment known to man. I make no sense and provide no reasoning behind my statements.
Sincerely,
SEAN (Sorry Elementary Asinine Notation)
This makes no sense. How will Mangini feel having to report to someone? Gee, in his last Head Coaching gig, he had to report to Tannenbaum, and he seemed to have survived without his head blowing up or anything. So, I guess he can handle it.
This makes no sense. How will Mangini feel having to report to someone? Gee, in his last Head Coaching gig, he had to report to Tannenbaum, and he seemed to have survived without his head blowing up or anything. So, I guess he can handle it.
Holmgren should can Mangini, dump BOTH Quinn and Anderson, and start fresh. I can't handle another year of Quinn and Anderson combining for 12 TD's and 45% passing!
I still have a hard time seeing how Holmgren is going to let the coach do his job, and the GM do his own job. Does he realize how much Bob Harlan hiring Ron Wolf - and then getting out of his way - contributed to the success of the franchise when he was in GB?
Hire Wolf and you are probably talking about a trifecta!
Weiss should end up wherever Quinn goes, be that the Browns, or other places.
So why does anyone think Holmgren will be any better than Matt Millen. Has anyone noticed the talent level he left in Seattle. Many of those players were guys he wanted and got. Holmgren was a great coach for my Packers, beyond that skill I've seen nothing to indicate he can run a team. Wolf deserved and gets most of the credit for turning GB around. That holds true for today more than 10 years after Mike left.
Mangini is the least of the problems facing Holmgren - a quality personnel man capable of building a complete scouting program is critically needed here and something that Holmgren is proven to be extremely poor at. If he can't come up with a functioning personnel department, everything else is moot.
Mr Murder:
The Browns already had Wolf as a consultant when Butch Davis was there. Davis dissed him and Wolf quit. Why would Wolf go help Cleveland? Aint gonna happen. Holmgren left Green Bay to prove that he could run the whole show in Seattle. He failed on the personnel end of it.
I really like Holmgren and respect him but I don't really see this role as one that he will excell at.
Maybe I'm wrong but time will tell. The first thing he should do is pull out his old copy of "The Packer Way" and highlight the early chapters where Wolf talks about what he had to do to change the culture
Also, I don't know if Holmgren has the mentality to fire not only football people but others in the front office as well. Wolf did and that is well documented.
Mike - what do you see Holmgren doing with the draft? With the Browns it never seems too early to start looking to the offseason for possibilities, but with this 'clean house' mentality do you think that will shift how they approach things?
There's an awful lot of upper-level QB prospects coming out this year - if Weis comes does Clausen come too? Or would that give Holmgren more reason to give Quinn another shot?
Lombardi,
Since you know so much how come you are out of football and now you have to make up stories for people to read. If Mangini is a control freak how did he advance throughout his career to become a head coach? Mangini is and will be good coach. Look at the Jets this year. Worse without Mangini. He will finish 5-11 with no talent on the team. He saved the team huge amount on salary cap money by trading down. He accumulated 11 picks for next year to build up the team. Just because he doesn't talk to certain media people like yourself you have to rag on him. I am glad that you are no longer in Cleveland
Seriosly Lombardi, How can anyone take anything you say about Mangini remotely seriously..Let me answer for ..you can't..I feel you are Belichick's shill and do nothing but bad mouth Mangini because of this tie to Bill..which calls into question your journalistic credibility (not that you have any) didn't you meet with Bill then a few weeks later deride through 'unnamed' Pats sources some absurd story about Mangini not calling the defense in NE..and a bunch of other derogatory statements..So much information from where one wonders..We all know where Mikey..Be your own man and don't be anyone's mouth piece especially when you pas yourself off as "media"..Its lowlife and clasless.
Holmgren doing with the draft? With the Browns it never seems too early to start looking to the offseason for possibilities, but with this 'clean house' mentality do you think that will shift how.
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Dec 22, 2009
10:48 AM
Amen Lombardi! Do you have any connections to Holmgren or Lamonte????