Holmgren's Dilemma: Keep or Fire Mangini As Browns Coach

The 2009 season is now over, and it didn't end in the shipwreck that it looked as if it would be two months ago. Somewhere between the managerial castration of coach Eric Mangini and a string of four victories hope sprung up for those people who call themselves Browns fans.

All the dysfunction that had bogged the season down righted itself as Mangini sorted out the mess he had inherited. Now, he didn't sort it all out; in fact, he created a few headaches of his own. One of them is the quarterback controversy he's carrying over into the 2010 season, if he's around for it.

That's the biggest issue. For unlike the '09 season, Mangini won't rule the Browns with an iron-fist. His intractable ways were softened in the shake-up that cost his handpicked GM a job. When George Kokanis got booted out of the Browns front office midway through the season, he took a heaping helping of Mangini's power out the door with him.

It was, in retrospect, a departure that might also cost Mangini his job.

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