Eric Mangini Fired
The firings of coaches have begun on the day after the NFL's regular season concluded.
The first to go are the Detroit Lions' Rod Marinelli, the New York Jets' Eric Mangini and the Cleveland Browns' Romeo Crennel.
The Lions fired Marinelli on the day after a loss to the Green Bay Packers made them the first team ever to winless in a 16-game NFL season.
The Jets have dismissed Mangini a day after losing to the Miami Dolphins and missing the playoffs in a season in which expectations were raised by several expensive free agent signings in the offseason and a training camp trade for quarterback Brett Favre.
The Browns announced the firing of Crennel one day after their disappointing season ended with a defeat in Pittsburgh and owner Randy Lerner dismissed General Manager Phil Savage.
In Detroit, Marinelli's firing completes a housecleaning of sorts by Lions owner William Clay Ford, who ousted Matt Millen as the team's president and general manager in September.
Marinelli was hired by Millen in 2006 and went 10-38 in three seasons. The Lions went 3-13 in 2006, and finished 7-9 last season after a 6-2 start. With last season's late unraveling and this season's futility, Marinelli won only one of his final 24 games as Detroit's coach.
Marinelli tried to keep his team from achieving 0-16 infamy. He went to Daunte Culpepper as his starter at quarterback after the Lions lured him out of retirement. At one point, Marinelli put a team picture on display during a meeting with his players and told them that they didn't want that on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It didn't work.
It's not clear what Ford's next move will be. He promoted Martin Mayhew from assistant general manager to GM in September and gave more responsibilities to Tom Lewand, the franchise's chief operating officer. Ford said recently that he wants both of those executives to remain with the organization but he plans to add someone to the football operations department.
It's possible that the Lions will pursue Bill Parcells, whose contract to oversee the football operations of the Miami Dolphins reportedly contains an out clause, or Scott Pioli, the front office chief of the New England Patriots who perhaps will leave Patriots Coach Bill Belichick to run a team on his own. If Pioli is hired, it's possible that he could bring along Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as his head coach.
Jets owner Woody Johnson fired Mangini after the Jets lost four of their final five games of the season to finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs.
Mangini was the toast of New York as a rookie head coach two years ago, being dubbed "Man-genius" for leading the Jets to a record of 10-6 in 2006. But the Jets slipped to 4-12 last season, which was notable mostly for the Jets being on the opposite sideline in the season-opening game when the Patriots and Mangini's former boss and mentor in New England, Belichick, were found to be illegally taping the play signals of opposing coaches to launch the "Spygate" scandal. That became part of Mangini's seemingly bitter feud with Belichick.
The Jets spent big money last offseason. On the free agent market, they signed guard Alan Faneca to a five-year, $40 million contract, linebacker Calvin Pace to a six-year, $42 million deal and offensive tackle Damien Woody to a five-year, $25.5 million pact. They traded for defensive tackle Kris Jenkins and signed him to a five-year, $35 million contract. Then the biggest move of all came in August when they obtained Favre after the quarterback failed to resolve his differences with the Green Bay Packers.
Favre had only a month to prepare for the season and was going to a place where he knew virtually no one. Yet Mangini and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer seemed to be doing a brilliant job when the Jets won eight of their first 11 games. It didn't last. Favre was plagued by a sore shoulder down the stretch, and the Jets finished third in the AFC East behind the Dolphins and Patriots.
Mangini becomes a former head coach at the age of 37. He had a record of 23-26 with the Jets, including 0-1 in the playoffs.
Crennel, like Mangini, is a former Patriots defensive coordinator. He got a two-year, approximately $8 million contract extension running through the 2011 season from the Browns last January after leading the team to a record of 10-6 last season and just missing the playoffs.
Things unraveled this season, however, as the Browns went 4-12 and endured a series of controversies.
Tight end Kellen Winslow was suspended by the team for one game for making critical postgame comments about the organization, then the suspension was overturned. Savage apologized for sending an e-mail to a fan that contained an expletive. Tailback Jamal Lewis and kick returner Josh Cribbs accused unnamed teammates of quitting in a game. There was a report that defensive lineman Shaun Smith hit quarterback Brady Quinn during a recent weight room incident.
Crennel had a record of 24-40 and failed to reach the playoffs in four seasons as Cleveland's coach.
Reports have linked the Browns to former Steelers coach Bill Cowher. He's a former Browns player and assistant coach who has spent two seasons doing television work since leaving the Steelers.
Steelers owner Dan Rooney has said he would be surprised to see Cowher coach next season. The name of former Browns coach Marty Schottenheimer also has been linked to the Cleveland job.
Lerner perhaps could pursue Pioli as a possible replacement for Savage, who was informed of his dismissal Sunday.
Today's three firings bring the league-wide total of coaching changes this offseason to seven. Mike Holmgren announced last offseason that he would leave the Seattle Seahawks after this season. Three coaches were fired during the season: Lane Kiffin by the Oakland Raiders, Scott Linehan by the St. Louis Rams and Mike Nolan by the San Francisco 49ers.
Two jobs have been filled. The Seahawks long ago named Jim Mora, their secondary coach, to succeed Holmgren. Mike Singletary keeps the job in San Francisco after the 49ers went 5-4 since he was named to succeed Nolan, who was fired following the club's 2-5 start.
In addition to Cowher, former Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick is considered a candidate to return to the league. Other often-mentioned head coaching candidates include McDaniels and defensive coordinators Steve Spagnuolo of the New York Giants, Jim Schwartz of the Tennessee Titans, Rex Ryan of the Ravens, Leslie Frazier of the Minnesota Vikings and Ron Meeks of the Colts.
And that’s the latest on the new flick that has Eric Mangini Fired
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