Getting to know Eric Mangini: Time with the Jets

Editor’s note: This is the third of a five-part series by NoLogoNeeded.com staff writer Aaron Ziraks regarding the 15th head coach in the Cleveland Browns history, Eric Mangini. Ziraks spent two weeks interviewing those from Mangini’s past in an effort to further understand the man who became the youngest head coach in NFL history in 2006 and now leads the Browns.

By Aaron Ziraks
NoLogoNeeded.com staff writer

On Jan. 17, 2006, Eric Mangini became the 14th head coach of the New York Jets. He inherited a team that was one year removed from the playoffs. The franchise just endured a highly publicized and irregular coaching change as Herm Edwards left for Kansas City. Finally, the Jets finished 4-12.

Expectations were modest for the 2006 season.

"I didn't expect the Jets to make the playoffs in 2006, so that they did was a welcome surprise," said Brian Bassett of The Jets Blog. "To put things in perspective, Brooks Bollinger was QBing the Jets down the stretch for the 2005 season, and their defense in 2005 was average, at best.  I hoped for a winning season, but 10-6 was a nice treat."

Click "Read More" to continue reading about Mangini's tenure as the Jets head coach.

Mangini needed to turn a franchise around, so he reorganized. He quickly released offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger and defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson. Mangini followed suit with the players. He traded Jon Abraham, cut Kevin Mawae, and waived Ty Law. By then, everyone knew Mangini meant business.

"This was something everybody noticed. It would have been hard not to,” said New York Times’ sports writer Greg Bishop. "The Jets had previously employed Herman Edwards as head coach, and as you can see with the Rex Ryan hire, they tend to go from one extreme to the other. You could see it when they hired Mangini. He and Edwards were about as different as you could get.

"Whether or not Eric's approach works is something that you can't answer definitively, but I will say this: he does not seem to waver from it. Eric was the same guy every day we were around him, right or wrong, paranoid or not. This definitely rubbed some players the wrong way. But I do know of others who embraced it, particularly the structure. There are still some players in the Jets locker room who loved Mangini and always will stand up for him."

Whether or not the players loved Mangini or hated him, they knew it was his team and it was going to be run his way. Mangini's first draft that April was his chance to do things his way and get the guys that he thought would be the building blocks for the future.

Mangini and the front office decided to draft offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson of Virginia with the fourth overall selection. It was followed by selecting center Nick Mangold from with the 29th overall selection.

Did Mangini have a method to his madness? Did he believe strongly that football games are won in the trenches and by controlling the ball with the running game?

Not according to Bishop.

"That's the strategy most coaches will say they want to play,” Bishop said. “In fact, I can't think of too many coaches that don't say exactly that. When Mangini was here, I don't think that's necessarily the strategy they employed. The Jets run an offense with a lot of shifts, motions and gimmicks. It's not a straight ahead, bull through type of deal."

Regardless of which strategy Mangini employed in his first season with the Jets, they made it work. The Jets finished 10-6 and made the playoffs as a wildcard team. Unfortunately, the Jets were defeated 37-16 by Mangini's former team, the New England Patriots, in the wild card round.

Mangini went from being a defensive coordinator for one year in New England to the youngest head coach in the NFL with the Jets and, finally,  leading the Jets to the playoffs in his first year. Many would expect Mangini to have a "holier than thou" demeanor in his second season.

This was not the case according to Bassett.

"Mangini always talks about how each year is different and distinct, they're not cumulative but completely separate entities,” Bassett said. “He was the same grinder of a coach he always was, and always will be."

Entering his second season, the Jets selected cornerback Darrell Revis from Pittsburgh with the 14th overall selection and made a trade with the Chicago Bears for running back Thomas Jones.

The Jets’ outlook for 2007 was promising. In the preseason NFL power rankings by Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, the ranked the Jets 11th. It proved to be very generous as the Jets would finish with a 4-12 record.

Aside from the disastrous season, Mangini found himself involved in his first controversy as a head coach. On Sept. 9, 2007 game against the Patriots, Mangini and the Jets accused the Patriots video staff of illegally taping defensive signals from an on-field location during the game.

A day after the game Mangini and the Jets filed a complaint with the NFL and the controversy began. Once Mangini blew the whistle on Belichick their relationship would never be the same. Mangini has said publicly that they do not talk anymore. A once great mentor-protégé relationship was quickly torn apart by competition and alleged cheating.

That 2007 season ended with the Jets going 3-4 in their final seven games, but it was overshadowed by their 1-8 start. With 2007 in the books, Mangini needed to rally the team and turn the ship around.

In the offseason much was made about the injury status of quarterback Chad Pennington. He was rarely healthy and the Jets were losing faith.

"Pennington is another story," Bishop said. "In the end, Mangini did lose faith in him, but not respect for him. It was an odd relationship in that way. It was tough for Eric to dismiss what Pennington meant to the locker room, but it was clear the Jets lost faith in him on the football field."

Enter Brett Favre. The Jets signed Farve after he "retired" from Green Bay. It did not make a lot of sense to Bassett, especially from a football standpoint.

"If anything, I think Mangini preferred Pennington's style,” Bassett said. “Favre was crammed down his throat and the last thing that a coach like Mangini wants is to have a turnover machine like Favre touching the ball every play of the game."

For better or worse, Farve was firmly in place at the starting quarterback position and the Jets were once again a team to watch. New York got off to a fast start and after 11 games the Jets were 8-3. Things quickly took a turn for the worse. Farve seemed to tire and his turnovers mounted.

The Jets won one of their next five games and failed to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Much of the blame fell on Mangini, but he seemed unraveled according to Greg Bishop.

"Even though the season was spiraling out of control, I noticed that Eric didn't seem flustered,” Bishop said. “I think this bothered some people in New York. They took it to mean he did not care. But I never thought of it that way. He just wasn't going to let us see it."

Unfortunately, Mangini never got the chance to let anyone see how he was going to bounce back. On Dec. 29, 2008, he was fired as the head coach of the New York Jets.

Check back tomorrow as we look into why Mangini was fired in part four of our Getting to know Eric Mangini series.

  June 17, 2009 at 3:13 PM

Comments

Great reading this series!

  June 17, 2009 at 4:06 PM by cglenn

Great series.

I'll admit that I was very disappointed when I heard about the Browns' hire of Mangini, but I'll also admit that all I ask for (look at my standards!) is that the players don't quit on a game until it is over. I mean when the clock runs out, not when it is considered 'over' by Collinsworth or Nantz or Michaels. I think with Mangini we may get that much at least: 60 minutes of our home team playing hard--as if it were their job!*

*(it is)

  June 17, 2009 at 10:37 AM by Jaceczko

Lame! What happened to the other two stories that were supposed to be out by now regarding this subject? Low rent publication. Promise a story and then just don't deliver?

  June 17, 2009 at 4:41 PM by demichef81

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