QUOTE: “People...especially people in positions of power...have invested a tremendous amount of effort and time to get to where they are. They really don't want to hear that we're on the wrong path, that we've got to shift gears and start thinking differently.” -- David Suzuki
I feel badly for George Kokinis, who is out as general manager of the Browns. Moving to Cleveland proved to be a great financial move for him, but a poor professional one in aligning himself with “The Secret.”
Head coach Eric “The Secret” Mangini has been running this team from the minute he secluded himself in his office after his initial press conference, refusing to talk to anyone or even say a passing hello in the halls. George never had a chance to be successful — and maybe he wasn’t the most qualified person for the position -- but he never had a chance in Cleveland with “The Secret.” He was never able to gain the respect of the employees in the company because it’s difficult to lead people when there’s a refusal to communicate.
Since Mangini values secrets more than anything else, there were times that Kokinis was left in the dark. He was not involved in the Braylon Edwards trade, for instance, because at that point the Kokinis era was already over. Since the beginning of the season, it has been the worst kept secret (kind of ironic, right?) that Kokinis was going to be gone. He wasn’t happy in Cleveland from the beginning, working for his good friend “The Secret,” and the Browns were not happy with his work. This hiring was flawed from the start.
If you’re a Browns fan, this move has to make you feel that owner Randy Lerner is aware he might have made a mistake. But with Lerner, you never know what he might be thinking or, more important, who may have his ear. And having his ear, and who is whispering information into that ear, is the most critical element right now for every Browns fan.
My fundamental question is: How did Mangini convince Lerner, based on his tapestry of work while at the New York Jets, that he was the right man for the job? Was it that cameo on “The Sopranos” that made him so alluring? Look, I’m all for the Sopranos, but I’d rather have Uncle Junior coaching the team than Mangini.
“The Secret,” for all his lack of communication skills, apparently can sell himself. He sold the Jets and his good friend, general manager Mike Tannenbaum, on the fact he was a bright young coordinator and a budding star when the reality was, at the time, Mangini was removed from his defensive coordinator responsibilities while he was in New England.
The Patriots under Mangini in 2005 gave up too many big plays down the field and were so poorly synchronized that head coach Bill Belichick was forced to take over the defense in mid-stream. Every time Mangini was given more responsibility in New England, he was not successful. Conversely, every time Josh McDaniels’ role was increased, he kept getting more and more successful. However, in spite of Mangini’s bad year, he was rewarded with a head coaching job based on Tannenbaum’s recommendation. Now, is that being lucky? (And the Browns never considered McDaniels for the job, so clearly, the advice and counsel around Lerner is not of the highest professional football quality.)
Lerner has had six months to watch the decisions and recommendations of “The Secret,” and here’s what he’s seen:
1. A collection of former Jets players who are marginal starters for the team and probably will not be a part of the eventual rebuilding.
2. A poor evaluation of his own quarterback situation, to the point where the team held the fifth pick in the draft and gave the Jets a quarterback who might have saved their franchise. When you pick high, you have a chance to repair your team at the most critical positions.
3. A recommendation by Mangini that Kokinis be his general manager and that Erin O’Brien be employed somewhere in the organization — after everyone at the Jets warned the Browns not to allow Mangini to make that move. O’Brien is the Manginis’ former babysitter and a friend of his wife Julie. Both Kokinis and O’Brien are now gone.
4. A coach who has demonstrated no ability to communicate with the fans to let them know there’s actually a plan in place to repair this sacred franchise. He’s the team spokesman, but the problem is that he doesn’t speak.
5. An offense so abysmal that it shows no hope of ever scoring.
Is this enough to make you want to be patient? I wrote this Monday and believe that Lerner must make a move, but he must make sure he knows whom to listen to as well. He needs to evaluate the evaluator, because although he may be getting a ton of advice, he needs to make sure he’s getting the right advice.
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Check out the new Browns Team Page at the NFP--where the fans get to have their voices heard.
Great article and even better talking points. Kokinis woked his way up through the Ravens organization and everybody in B'more thought he was ready for the next step. It turnrs out he's just the latest former Ravens personnel man to get thrown into that wood chipper called the Clowns.
I’d rather have Uncle Junior coaching the team than Mangini
Amen to that, especially if he does it in his bathrobe and whacks whoever is playing QB that day...
ML,
I am a Pats fan so naturally I loathe and despise that Benedict Arnold Mangini and this column is absolutely positively A+ in my book. I haven't laughed so hard in awhile. Well done sir!! :)
Please tell me that Kokinis managed to abscond from the Browns' offices with some laptops and other Browns property. That would just be a too perfect karma scenario for the mangenius.
I get the sense that there's more to the story of Mangini and Belichick in NE than than has been reported. I find the piling on you're doing with Mangenius pretty interesting as people don't usually call out colleagues in the same field unless payback is involved.
Not that I'm complaining mind you....this stuff is great! The NFL just gets more and more interesting both at the top and bottom ends and I can't wait to get to the Post each day to read the lateset. Keep it up Mike, this stuff is terrific!
The people I really feel for though are the Browns fans. All they want right now is to have a competitive team so they can enjoy football again and that's just not happening under this regime.
The coaching tree of Marty(including Bill Cowher or Brian Schottenheimer) could be the best move up front. In Marty's case you'd probably get a great sense of aquisition judgement as well. He could aid someone better fit to run cap calls, instead of evaluation. That would be a dual approach, but it can get dificult in the cap era to run things that way.
Cowher's teams were developed along a draft model more than anything else. That is as much a result of the Steelers own procurement infrastructure and long standing organizational philosophy. If you bring him in you still need someone to run the GM ranks as a an executive type, IMO.
Brian would clearly need help in both realms, but he's a rising star and most often those calls will work for entry level pay in comparison. It would be difficult to imagin Brian leaving his situation with the NYJ, but who knows when Mt.Ryan will erupt like a volcano. Brian coming from a football family background, probably understands Rex Ryan better than most coaches would in a working arrangement. Still there is a enough market volatility there to perhaps override the opportunity to work with a budding star in Sanchez.
How he'd leave one team headed by a Ryan to go to another one having a Ryan in the middle of an emerging rift between "The Secret" and players who side with emotion, that would be ironic in and of itself.
Brian S. should only move when ready, he can become a legend builder in two chapters of foootball's highest level.
Tannenbaum was promoted to GM after Mangini was hired in New York. You sure he was the one wooed by Mangini? The assistant GM usually doesn't make hiring decisions.
He'd be good as a backup... ummmm.... waterboy.... maybe
I'm glad that someone finally mentioned that in Mangini's one year as Pats defensive coordinator they weren't very good, although I wasn't aware of Belichick's fully taking the reigns (if that's true). In years where a new coordinator debuts (such as this year) Belichick does meddle more. All that said it appears that the best way to get hired as an NFL coach - and to get hired at anything in life - is to be able to sell your self. Sometimes that pizazz will get the inexperienced and unready hired and eventual success depends on an organization's infrastructure. For example Mangini appears to be a bad hire, but Mike Tomlin a good one. Both were guys who did not have any HC experience at any level, and each had sub par years in their only years as DC before being hired as HCs. In Mangini's case he seems controlling and cocky while going at organizations that weren't already pre-built. In Tomlin's case he seems somewhat cocky but not controlling and he went to arguably the best organization in football and kept arguably the best young QB and best DC. There are too many variables in football and HC hiring is the most important step. Rather than hear about player evaluation - there's a lot of that - I'd like to hear Mike or Mr. Brandt talk about hiring HCs or passed experience with dealing with new hire HCs.
When will " Mandummy" be escorted out the door? The guy is a joke.
Cleveland has seemed out of whack ever since Marty ball left back in the day . To bad , they have great fans . It would appear Mangini is gone & it is hard to feel bad for him . He really comes across as an amateur . It seems like the Browns have tried really hard to catch some of that Patriots lightning in a bottle in recent years . First hiring Crennel then hiring Mangini & letting him select his own Pioli type. I think this Randy Lerner has the right idea now . Bring in a proven GM & let him evaluate the team this year & then make whatever changes deemed appropriate in the offseason . I guess the Browns missed on Ernie Accorsi . Who ever they get the Browns do need a big time personnel guy.
Funny you never mentioned the James Davis incident . Nice touch about getting the babysitter a job in the organization . Eric Mangini , secrets or not , doesn't seem professional . I don't see him back in the NFL after this gig ends . Bill Belichicks legacy is definitely losing some luster .
The NFL should just move the franchise out of cleveland and get it over with.
As a Ravens fan, I hope they do give 'The Secret' four or five years to build a winner....
Michael, your story telling in this instance is beautifully descriptive and as an avid Pats fan it's music to my ears that Mangini is finally being revealed for who he truly is. However, I have to wonder how you know that he was removed from his Defensive Coordinator position midway through the 2005 season in New England? That sounds like one of the many mysteries of the Patriots organization that never make it to the public. Could you expand upon this?
The ideal candidate for GM in Cleveland would be Ted Thompson. They they could have two "Secrets" that wouldn't make eye contact in the hall if their lives depended on it.
I am not a Brown's fan, but even I feel bad for them. I know Michael you bag on Anderson and Quinn, but Parcells seemed to like Anderson when he was at ESPN. I wonder if a better coaching staff could have done a better job with him.
Gritz Blitz is right m- the Browns have had a succession of ridiculously bad coaches since their rebirth.
And they all have one thing in common - they were hired by a lerner.
i have no faith that the next hire will be anything but awful.
The scales dropped from my eyes on this titan of a fraud when the Pats were playing the Eagles in the Super Bowl. The Pats defense had just given up a way to easy fourth quarter TD, and as the camera cut to the Pats sideline you could clearly make out Mangini saying: "it wasn't my fault"
All over NE the tumblers clicked into place concerning this incompetent egomaniac.
People assume Pats fans dislike this guy cuz of spygate, but he'd shown his colors well before.
He's a multi-millionaire now. Thanks to the Kraft family and Bill Belichick who he has not ceased to try to embarrass at every and any turn.
Regardless of what you think of the Pats front office, what do you think of some snark eyed butt turd enriching himself...really gorging himself on any self promotion he can lay his hands on, while doing anything possible to embarrass the very people that made it possible.
The quintessential pig at the trough and a hind end kisser for the ages. Witness his shameless groveling at the feet of farve. There are other examples.
Remember in the end. Nobody wins unless Eric Mangini loses.
Think Kokinis would be good in Buffalo to be the football guy and Brandon stay as COO?
Kokinis woked his way up through the Ravens organization and everybody in B'more thought he was ready for the next step.
Thank you for post.
A list of thank yous and a final...
Even if you called me an idiot,...
Their success will depend on QB...
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Nov 03, 2009
01:31 PM
I think Mangini is a self-impressed putz, but he wasn't a complete disaster with the Jets. They had one disastrous year, but two decent ones including a playoff year. How did that happen?
Here in DC we're all about moronic owners, and I'd love to hear somebody explain Lerner's decision making process in hiring Mangini and giving him so much completely unchecked power. Did he just refuse to do his homework? How could Mangini possibly have developed advocates who would recommend him to Lerner?
When I'm developing strategy for a change or turnaround project, three big questions dominate the thinking. First is how does my team develop a sense of urgency that justifies the pain everybody's going to go through; second is what vision guides my team's strategy and communications; and third is what short-term wins can i generate to build credibility and generate momentum. Everything else tends to take care of itself. Mangini doesn't seem to have answered any of these questions, leaving ownership and his fan base frustrated, perplexed, and angry. He might have a great three-year plan -- anything is possible -- but nobody knows about it and nobody believes in it.