Beginning To Believe in Eric Mangini: A "Fascinating" Story

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When Romeo Crennel and Phil Savage were fired at the end of the 2008 season, I had my hopes set high. I saw a wide-open sea of potential new head coaches and general managers that could help right this ship.

My first choice for head coach was Bill Cowher. Surely, this former Browns player could make his triumphant return to Cleveland and bring this city back to its pre-Super Bowl-era glory days. But Cowher wasn't interested.

How about Scott Pioli for GM? He had helped Bill Belichick bring three championships to New England in four years. This time, owner Randy Lerner balked, as Pioli's control demands were deemed unreasonable. Of course, that didn't stop Kansas City from hiring him.

Okay, shake it off, I thought.

But before I could say Marty Schottenheimer, reports began to surface that Lerner was "fascinated" with Eric Mangini. Next thing I knew, Mangini was hired as the head coach—before the hiring of a GM.

I hated this move. Isn't the GM supposed to hire the coach? Are any good GM candidates going to want to go where the new coach had already been hired?

Then the Browns hired George Kokinis, a relative unknown considering the GM candidates whose names had been suggested for the job. Mangini had hand-picked his own guy. Lerner said he hadn't even considered Kokinis before his initial meeting with Mangini.

Again, I asked, isn't the GM supposed to hire the coach, not the other way around?

Neither Mangini's nor Kokinis' press conferences were inspiring. In fact, they both came off as being uncomfortable, awkward, and even a little goofy. These guys were anything but "fascinating" to me. They seemed destined to lower expectations for a franchise that couldn't possibly have lower expectations.

Then free agency opened and...well, nothing happened. At least nothing that didn't subtract talent from the team.

After quietly releasing some veteran backups, the Browns made perhaps their biggest move of the offseason so far: They traded exceptional but loud-mouthed tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. to the Bucs for a second-round draft pick and a fifth in 2010.

I wasn't pleased at all. I thought if we were going to make a statement by trading a veteran receiver, Braylon Edwards made more sense. During the last game of the year, when the Browns' season had long since been lost, Edwards looked annoyed to be there and disinterested at best.

After clearly miscommunicating on a third down pass play, rent-a-QB Bruce Gradkowski went to Edwards to talk it over. Edwards just turned his back to Gradkowski. He had clearly given up on the season—a season that saw him drop more passes than seemed humanly possible.

Kellen Winslow was a lot of things, but I never saw him quit. Never.

Next came the signing of Robert Royal more than a week into the opening of free agency. The low-profile blocking tight end seemed a feeble answer to the loss of one of my favorite players. Would this guy even be able to beat out Steve Heiden?

By this point, difference-makers like Albert Haynesworth, Bart Scott, and T.J. Houshmandzadeh had been signing everywhere but Cleveland. The Browns didn't show any interest in re-signing safety Sean Jones, the most experienced and arguably the best player among a young and promising secondary.

Then the Browns re-signed backup safety Mike Adams, who had filled in for Jones when he was injured. Like the timing of the Royal signing, it seemed as though Mangini was sending a message: The Browns were moving on.

On paper, the roster now looked like we'd added Robert Royal and Mike Adams in exchange for losing Kellen Winslow and Sean Jones.

Oh, and did I mention that Pro Bowl defensive tackle Shaun Rogers had asked to be traded? According to Rogers, Mangini failed to come over to introduce himself on separate occasions. Surely, Rogers was acting like a three-year old who didn't get a toy at the grocery store, but how hard would it have been to avoid that problem?  You didn't see him? 400-lb. Shaun Rogers?

Suddenly, the Browns started signing players on a daily basis:

Defensive lineman C.J. Mosley, a former Jet under Mangini.

Defensive back Hank Poteat, also a former Jet.

Linebacker David Bowens, a former...yep, he was a Jet, too.

Linebacker Eric Barton, a—you guessed it—former Jet.

The Browns even signed former Jet safety Abram Elam to a restricted free agent offer sheet...one that the Jets

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