Don't Count Out The Browns In The AFC North This Year

Since their return in 1999, they only had two winning records. They went 9-7 under Butch Davis and went 10-6 under Romeo Crennel. They were always at the bottom except for those two years. Expect that to change under the Browns' new coach Mangini.

Mangini is bringing a new attitude in the losing organization. Perhaps a winning attitude. After all, this is the same team that went 10-6 in 2007, abeit slightly different with the recent additions of Abraham Elam, Kenyon Coleman, Alex Mack, Eric Barton, Brian Robiskie, Alex Mack, David Veikune. Those players will help greatly help this team to become better.

I, for one, love what Mangini doing. He is changing things in Cleveland. He drafted excellent by trading down the first round to get more players. That in itself, is very smart football-wise. Also, Mangini likes to run a hard, mean training camp. That's what I like to hear.

I remember the former Browns' coach, Romeo Crennel ran a very lackadaisy camp. It was akin to a country-club atmosphere. You do that in a YMCA club, not in a football camp. You see, Mangini is doing the right stuff already. He likes to hold players accountable for mistakes. In fact, He made Joe Thomas run a lap because of a false-start on the offensive line.

I heard comparisons of Mangini to Tomlin. I can see that. They're both tough, hard-nosed coaches. They both like to run tough camps. They are very similar coaches, but with different styles. Mangini's more like Belichick, who is very stoic and shows no favoritism, and Tomlin's more fiery and is loyal to his players. But the thing is they run different systems. Mangini runs the Patriots 3-4, and Tomlin runs the Lebeau Zone 3-4.

I know there are probably Steelers and Ravens, and even Bengals fans laughing at this article, but I tell you one thing about this year—it's going to be a tough, gritty, and smashmouth division for the AFC North this year. Teams are going to have earn first place in the division this year.