Browns: Quick to Hire, Quicker to Fire
7:17 PM Tue, Nov 03, 2009 | Permalink
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The chaos continues in Cleveland, with the firing of general manager George Kokinis. Kokinis had been the choice of Browns coach Eric Mangini, who brought him in from Baltimore, where he had been director of pro personnel for the Ravens. The two had started out together in pro football in Cleveland, working at entry-level positions under Bill Belichick, when he was coaching the Browns in the early '90s. With the Browns struggling at 1-7, and having scored fewer than seven points in five of their games, team owner Randy Lerner says he is "sick" about the way things are going and wants to bring in "a strong, credible, serious leader to guide decisions in a far more conspicuous, open, transparent way." That's not exactly the "Mangini way." He never had time to think about what mistakes he may have made in his first head coaching job. Perhaps, because the Browns were so quick to pick him up, Mangini feels he was doing things the right way in New York. But it's telling to see how his mentor, Belichick, changed when he was given a second chance as a head coach. The changes were obvious to veteran defensive lineman Anthony Pleasant, who had played for Belichick with the Browns, then joined him in New England in 2001. Pleasant talked about the difference in Belichick prior to the Patrots' Super Bowl appearance that season. "When he left Cleveland," Pleasant said, "I didn't think he'd get another job as a head coach. There was so much negative publicity around what happened there. I thought it would be hard for another owner to hire him. "He did some things in Cleveland that didn't go over very well. He didn't listen to anybody. He didn't relate to the players. It was always: 'This is the way we did it in New York, and this is the way we're doing it here.' He's not like that any more. He's not a know-it-all with a chip on his shoulder, like he was with the Browns. He's not the same person. "After what I saw in Cleveland," Pleasant said, "I hesitated to come to the Patriots. Before I did, I spoke with some guys here who were in Cleveland. Every one of them told me that he wasn't the same guy and learned from his mistakes." It may be that Mangini thinks that what went wrong with the Jets wasn't his fault, that he made few, if any mistakes. So he's operating the same way in Cleveland he did in New York. Two years ago, after the Browns went 10-6, coach Romeo Crennel and GM Phil Savage were given contract extensions. Last year, after the Brownies fell to 4-12, both Savage and Crennel were fired. . 
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I'm no Mangini fan by any means, but I'm not sure what happened in New York was his fault - not entirely, anyway. It seems to me that Tannenbaum calls most of the shots for the Jets - from insisting on the acquisitions of Favre and Sanchez, maybe even to insisting that OC Schottenheimer let Sanchez off the tight leash that had led to success in the first three games. My guess is that Tannenbaum also engineered the trade for Braylon Edwards that sent the Jets' return-coverage ace, Jason Trusnik, to Cleveland, leaving the Jets vulnerable to just what smote them Sunday in the form of Ted Ginn, Jr. I doubt that an experienced defensive coach like Ryan would have made that mistake by his own volition.
Also, whatever Lerner's expectations were for Cleveland this season, it was pretty clear (to me, anyway) that Mangini was starting out in a deep, deep hole personnel-wise and that there was a lot of the previous regime's manure to clear out of the stables. Not to mention the incredibly awkward and very expensive QB situation. I seriously doubt that, under the circumstances, the Browns would have won very many more games (if any) under Crennell or anyone else this year than they have under Mangini.
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