Decade Debate: 10 Worst NFL Head Coaching Hires
Posted by Anthony Stalter (12/08/2009 @ 9:24 pm)
Perhaps more than any other sport, a bad head coaching hire in the NFL can ruin a franchise for the better part of a decade. When you consider the free agent and draft acquisitions that are made to fit a coach’s style and philosophy, it’s no wonder that it usually takes years for a team to rebound after a bad coaching hire. As part of our ongoing Decade Debate series, here are the 10 worst head coaching hires of the past decade. To be clear, this ranking is based on the result of the hire, and not necessarily the hire itself. (Although the ranking could be a combination of the two.)
10. Eric Mangini, Cleveland Browns, 2009
One might argue that since Mangini hasn’t even gotten through his first year in Cleveland yet that he doesn’t deserve to be on this list. But others will argue that since he was absolutely despised in New York that the Browns should have never hired him in the first place. After all, was the one winning season he had with the Jets worth the Browns giving him a shot? Some of the moves that Mangini has made since arriving in Cleveland haven’t been bad at all: Trading Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow, trading down multiple times to acquire more picks in the draft, acquiring safety Abram Elam, etc. But considering he hasn’t won many players over with his crass attitude, has made two quarterback changes and only has one win under his belt, things couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start in Cleveland. It’ll be interesting to see if the Browns fire him after only one season.
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Posted in: NFL
Tags: Anthony Stalter, Art Shell, Atlanta Falcons, Bobby Petrino, Bobby Petrino Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, End of Decade, End of Decade Sports, Eric Mangini, Fire Jim Zorn, Headlines, Jim Zorn, Jim Zorn Redskins, Marty Mornhinweg, Marty Mornhinweg Lions, Nick Saban, Nick Saban Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders bad coaching hires, Scott Linehan, Scott Linehan Rams, Steve Spurrier, Washington Redskins bad coaching hires, worst nfl head coaches, worst nfl head coaches of '00, Worst NFL head coaching hires, worst nfl head coaching hires of '00s
Posnanski: Is Mangini the worst coaching hire ever?
Posted by Anthony Stalter (09/30/2009 @ 7:00 am)
Joe Posnanski of SI.com says it’s not fan hyperbole to suggest that the Cleveland Browns made the worst coaching hire of the last 25 years in Eric Mangini.
But here’s the thing: Based on the Twitter responses I’ve seen … I’m actually starting to believe that I’m right. I’m actually starting to believe that Mangini really was the worst head coach hire in 25 years. The responses have mostly been to list other coaches who were worse hires than Mangini. But you know what? I don’t think any of those hires WERE worse than Mangini. Remember:
1. Mangini had just been fired in New York, where he had done a terrible job. He had a losing record. His team had collapsed down the stretch, he had alienated his players, he was a pain in the neck to deal with. Point is: He’d already PROVEN how much damage he could do as a coach.
2. He came right out of the school of Bill Belichick … and that didn’t work THE FIRST TIME in Cleveland. It seems to me that Cleveland is a working-class town and Browns fans want a working-class coach — not some pompous know-it-all who doesn’t feel like he should have to explain to the commoners what he’s doing.
3. What had he ever done to convince anyone he could be a head coach in the first place? Why, because he was a defensive coordinator for the Patriots under Belichick for one season? The Browns had JUST HIRED Romeo Crennel, who was ALSO defensive coordinator under Belichick. Attention Cleveland Browns owners, here’s a good hint: BILL BELICHICK IS HIS OWN DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR.
4. Basically the first thing Mangini did — first thing — was have them tear down a mural of great Cleveland Browns players on the wall in the Browns offices. Now, there are differing opinions about what really happened, whose fault it really was, does it all matter, etc. You know what? The Cleveland Browns have never been to a Super Bowl. Never. Not one. But Browns fans still have a whole lot of pride. Browns fans grow up on a glorious history. If you allow something stupid like that to happen on your watch … just a horrendous hire.
Posnanski continues by diving into some other bad coaching hires, although he dismisses each one by saying they were still better than the Browns’ hiring of Mangini.
It’s hard to argue with Posnanski based on how Mangini’s tenure in Cleveland has started. But the only problem I have with his argument is that any coach that has worked under Belichick is going to be sought after to some degree, even if that coach failed in his previous job. And let’s not forget that Mangini won his first year in New York, which made him enticing to employers.
That said, if the Browns continue to lose the way they have in the first couple weeks, it will be hard to justify why they took a chance on Mangini in the offseason. People in Cleveland are going to grow tired of his act, just as the fans in New York did.
