Tag: Eric Mangini (Page 10 of 13)

      Report: Shaun Rogers asks out of Cleveland

      February 25, 2009 /

      According to NFL.com’s Adam Schefter, Shaun Rogers has asked the Browns not to pick up the $6 million bonus that is due to him next month because he’d rather be released.

      Shaun RogersRogers has grown so disenchanted with the situation in Cleveland that he has asked the Browns not to pick up the $6 million option-bonus payment due to him next month, a source close to the defensive tackle said. Rogers would rather be released after one season with the Browns, despite still being owed another $15 million in guaranteed money.

      Some of Rogers’ feelings stem back to two offseason incidents in which he believes Mangini disrespected him. The first time, Mangini walked into the Browns’ training room and failed to say hello to Rogers. The next time, at a public charity function in which both men were in the green room, neither said hello to the other, and Mangini later said he didn’t know Rogers was there.

      The Browns believe that, once Rogers hears out Mangini, the same will occur. The situation will be soothed over, hard feelings will dissipate and Cleveland will have a happy defensive tackle.

      Cutting Rogers would be difficult to do financially. If the Browns release Rogers, they would have to count more than $9.7 million against their salary cap.

      This situation will probably blow over once the two decide to sit down and talk but either way, this isn’t a good start for Mangini. Not that a coach has to walk around and kiss everybody’s ass on the first day, but players are big on the “respect factor” and obviously Rogers feels that he has been disrespected twice already by Mangini.

      Rogers was labeled as a lazy, unmotivated and temperamental player in Detroit. When he was traded to Cleveland, he cleaned up his act and turned out to be the Browns’ best defender. In fact, he probably turned in his best season as a pro and there’s no question that the Browns need this guy on their D-line.

      Again, the situation will probably be worked out, but Mangini needs to move quickly.

      NFL

      Browns, Mangini already off to a bad start?

      February 3, 2009 /

      Todd Porter of the Canton Repository writes that new Browns head coach Eric Mangini is, “running the place like Napoleon” and has already snubbed Pro Bowl NT Shaun Rogers at a recent public function.

      Eric ManginiA Browns insider told me the atmosphere at headquarters is, to put it mildly, miserable. New Head Coach Eric Mangini is running the place like Napoleon.

      Days after Mangini slobbered about the history and tradition of the team, he had a mural of former Browns greats taken down near the players’ entrance. OK, maybe he wants the team to make new history and quit living in the past, but they had better understand the past.

      I give Mangini and Kokinis no more than three years before Lerner has sold the team. That’s right. Lerner will sell the team before he hires another head coach.

      Mangini is alienating players already. At a recent public function that Mangini and Pro Bowler Shaun Rogers attended, Rogers said he had yet to meet Mangini but hoped to that night. A few minutes later, Mangini walked past Rogers, who’s hard to miss at 360 pounds, without introducing himself.

      Yeah, I see how things are starting. Mangini will run off the guys who don’t worship at his feet in the locker room, then need more “time” to rebuild the roster, thus keeping Lerner’s endless circle of rebuilding going.

      I wouldn’t get too wrapped up in this report considering most of it is innuendo and hearsay. But it wasn’t that long ago that Jets players were complaining about the way Mangini ran the locker room in New York and reports surfaced that his tough-guy approach didn’t go over too well in the end.

      But again, it’s probably best to take this report with a grain of salt. Mangini might not come off well to reporters, but unless you’re a player or on the coaching staff you can’t have a full understanding of what’s really going on behind the scenes.

      NFL, Rumors & Gossip

      Browns hire George Kokonis as new GM

      January 26, 2009 /

      The Browns hired former Ravens’ pro personnel director George Kokonis to replace Phil Savage as general manager.

      Kokinis, who began his NFL career as an intern in the Browns’ operations department in 1991, was hand-picked by Mangini, who recommended him during his first interview with Browns owner Randy Lerner on Dec. 30. Mangini took over as Cleveland’s coach on Jan. 7, just one week after he was fired following three seasons with the New York Jets.

      Determined to match a coach and GM who can work well together after the Romeo Crennel-Phil Savage relationship failed, Lerner is teaming up a pair of friends who shared an apartment when they first broke into the league and have remained tight.

      Don’t know much about Kokonis but if you’re a Browns fan you have to love two things about this hire. One, he comes from a winning organization in Baltimore and worked closely with one of the best general managers in the NFL in Ozzie Newsome. Second, Kokonis and Mangini get along, which is obviously a huge plus. If Mangini is going to have success coaching the players that Kokonis selects in free agency and the draft, the two have to work together in order to build a winning roster.

      At least at this point, it looks like the Browns are in better shape with Mangini and Kokonis than they were with Romeo Crennel and Savage.

      NFL

      Report: Rex Ryan becomes Jets’ next head coach

      January 19, 2009 /

      ESPN is reporting that Rex Ryan will become the next head coach of the Jets.

      Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan has agreed to a four-year contract to become coach of the New York Jets, according to multiple sources.

      Lawyers are reviewing contract language before an official announcement is made. A news conference introducing Ryan is scheduled for Wednesday.

      The Jets made a formal offer to Ryan “about an hour” after the Ravens lost 23-14 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game, the sources said.

      Ryan’s four-year contract is in line with other first-year head coaches that have been recently hired, but a Jets source said it was almost identical to the $11.5 million deal that the Rams gave New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo on Saturday.

      “Any coach who believes in himself wants the opportunity, and it’s a great franchise,” Ryan told ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols on Sunday night.

      Ryan was hired by the Ravens in 1999 as a defensive assistant and took on the coordinator’s role in 2005. The title of assistant head coach was added before this season.

      I’ve been dying to see what this guy can do as a head coach. Hopefully he hires a sound offensive coordinator and someone he’s already worked with to coach defense so that his system and schemes stay in tact. It’ll also be interesting to see what Ryan can do with former top 10 pick Vernon Gholston, who Eric Mangini sat for most of 2008 because he wanted the former Buckeye to become a complete linebacker. Maybe Ryan will make him the next Terrell Suggs and just allow him to get after the passer and use his physical talents above all else.

      Other than him not having any head coaching experience, I think Ryan was a sound hire.

      NFL

      Browns hire Eric Mangini

      January 7, 2009 /

      It’s official Browns fans:

      Eric Mangini completed his rise from Browns ball boy and public relations intern Wednesday, when he reached agreement on a contract to become the team’s fourth coach since 1999.

      Mangini went 23-25 with the New York Jets, including a 10-6 playoff season in his first year in 2006. In 2008, the Jets started 8-3 but finished 9-7 as quarterback Brett Favre faded down the stretch.

      Mangini, who turns 38 on Jan. 19, was the first person Lerner interviewed after firing coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Phil Savage after a 4-12 season and 24-40 record over four years.

      A protege of former Browns coach Bill Belichick and a graduate of Belichick’s alma mater Wesleyan University, Mangini worked with Belichick for 10 years, including one in Cleveland (1995) and three with the Jets when Belichick was assistant head coach under Bill Parcells.

      Mangini could also consider keeping Crennel on as an assistant since they worked together for seven years with the Jets and Patriots.

      I shared my thoughts on the subject here.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

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