Bye-Bye, Mangini!

Joe Cleveland wasn't surprised to see Eric Mangini get canned as the Cleveland Browns head coach this morning (in fact, I turned on my cell phone to see at least five people texted me that Mangini was toast early this morning).

I was a little surprised, however, that Mangini actually finished the season.

The writing was on the wall when the Browns fell to the lowly Buffalo Bills in a lackluster effort, and it was pretty loud and clear when they duplicated that same effort the following week against the lowly Cincinnati Bengals. At that point, it was obvious to anyone with half a brain that Mangini had to win both of his remaining games if he expected to come back for a third season as Browns coach.

That didn't happen.

From my seat in Cleveland Browns Stadium on Sunday, after the hated Steelers had just gone up by two touchdowns with less than half of the first quarter gone, I wondered aloud if Mike Holmgren himself would descend from his luxury box down to the sideline, Haskell in tow, tap Mangini and Brian Daboll on their respective shoulders, tell them to get lost, grab their headsets and coach the rest of the game. Most of people in my section thought that would have been the greatest thing ever. Unfortunately, it didn't happen.

However, Holmgren waited until Mangini walked into his regular meeting with him this morning and basically told him the exact same thing.

For the time being, though, it appears Holmgren isn't interested in coaching himself. I wonder if that's part of the "due dillegence" he has to do to placate the NFL in the search. He has to interview at least one minority candidate (thanks, Dan Rooney), although, I think that rule doesn't help minority candidates at all. Most of them wind up taking token interviews even though the team has already decided on the candidate they want. The fact is, the best man usually gets the job, and I think the color of a man's skin has little to do with it anymore (college football, on the other hand ...)

If, after two weeks of interviewing candidates, Holmgren decides that the best candidate is himself, so be it. I think the Browns could do a lot worse than a guy who has 3 Super Bowls under his belt. One loss was to John Elway, who simply wanted it to much. The other loss was one of most controvercial Super Bowls in history, thanks to a litany of questionable officials non-calls and penalties.

If Holmgren is comfortable in his role as the president, here's a few names to keep an eye on:

Jon Gruden: Gruden has a history with Holmgren in both San Francisco and Green Bay. They share the same offensive vision and they share the same agent. Gruden also grew up in Ohio as a Browns fan and would relish the chance to coach the team back to prominance. Gruden also personally reccommended Colt McCoy to Holmgren, and it was Holmgren who lobbied his GM, Tom Heckert, to draft him. It depends on if Gruden is ready to return to coaching this year or not, but I'd have to say he's the No. 1 candidate.

Marty Mohrningweg: I don't know if this is how you spell his name, but many NFL experts are saying Marty is the favorite. Mohrningweg does have head coaching experience, however it came with the Detroit Lions under Matt Millen. Mohrningweg's teams went 5-27 while he was there, and included a curious decision to kickoff to start an overtime that wound up biting his team in the ass. Mohrningweg has made a name for himself as an offensive coordinator, especially lately with the Philadelphia Eagles. Mohrningweg has said that he learned a lot of lessons from his first coaching stint, and Holmgren and Heckert should be a bit more competant at running a team than Millen was. Mohrningweg shares the same offensive philosophies (and agent) as Holmgren, and it appears he's one of the coaches Holmgren has already asked permission to interview.

John Fox: Fox's name started coming up in conversation as soon as his Carolina Panthers began to take a turn for the worse. Fox has never coached in the Holmgren tree, but they both share the same agent and have similar philosophies and a mutual respect and admiration for each other. Fox is more of a defensive coach, but he took the Panthers to their only Super Bowl and coaxed some great seasons out of Jake Delhomme, who is currently a backup QB for the Browns. Its obvious that the Panthers needed to make a change, but Fox's reputation is that he's a solid coach who gets the most out of his players.

Perry Fewell: At first, I thought Fewell was just going to be interviewed to placate the Rooney Rule. However, Fewell did do fairly decent as Buffalo's interim head coach two seasons ago and made a seemless transition to become the Giants' defensive coordinator. I think he's a darkhorse candidate at best, because I think Holmgren wants an offensive-minded coach. However, if his contract is up, I could see him coming in as the defensive boss here.

Jim Harbaugh: I don't agree with Harbaugh as a candidate, because I don't think coaches can make the transition from college to the NFL. Even though Harbaugh ran a pro-style system at Stanford, and he spent many years as an NFL quarterback and his brother has been successful as the Baltimore Ravens coach, I would rather some other team take the flier on Harbaugh. As long as Michigan doesn't get him (speaking as a Buckeye fan), I'll be happy. That being said, I couldn't see Harbaugh coaching in the same division as his brother anyway.

Brian Billick: One prominant radio guy has been saying Billick should be a front-runner for this job. Billick did coach a West Coast offense at Minnesota under Denny Green, who was on the same coaching staff as Holmgren in San Francisco, so there is a connection there. Billick can be abrasive, but he did coach Baltimore to their only championship since they left Cleveland (and only Super Bowl). He knows the North Division inside and out. And, he was ready to come here to coach the Browns before Policy overstepped his bounds and tried to wave a "take it or leave it" offer at him just hours after his Vikings were upset in the NFC championship game in 1998. He's been out of coaching since Baltimore fired him three years ago, so it will be interesting to see if he leaves his TV job. I can't see him as a legitimate candidate.

Steve Mariucci: Mariucci coached with Holmgren in both Green Bay and San Francisco before taking over for George Seifert in San Francisco for a few years. Supposedly, Mariucci was ready to take the Browns job in 1999 if he was to be fired as 49ers coach (as had been rumored) before Terrell Owens made that terrific touchdown catch in the playoffs to eliminate Green Bay (and Holmgren) and save his job. Mariucci has enjoyed his cushy gig on the NFL Network, but you have to assume he might be on Holmgren's list of confidants.

Gil Haskell: Holmgren brought Haskell in as an advisor to both him and to Mangini's coaching staff. Haskell was Holmgren's long-time offensive coorindator in Seattle. Holmgren always wondered why Haskell was never given an opportunity to become a head coach, and there are some who think that this may be that opportunity. Haskell is also up there in age and I can't see him becoming the head coach. Offensive coordinator, yes. Head coach, not so much.

Josh McDaniels: His name popped up because he's from Canton and played at John Carroll and because he shares the same agent as Holmgren. If Mangini would have been retainined, I could have definitely seen McDaniels becoming the offensive coordinator next year. However, McDaniels does not share Holmgren's offensive vision. And, do we really need another Bill Belichick disciple coaching the Browns, especially since the last two worked out so well (sarcasm)? Assistant coach, yes. Head coach, no.

Karl Dorrall: The former UCLA coach's name popped up in Plain Dealer reports as a candidate. He was a fine assistant coach at Carolina and many feel that he's on fast track to becoming an NFL head coach. Unless Holmgren is trying to bring in an unknown that he can puppet-string around (Denver offensive coordinator Mike McCoy would be another one), I can't see Dorrall as a viable candidate at this point.

Rob Ryan: I put him on the list because he's currently under contract with the Browns and he's being linked to other head coaching openings. Supposedly, Holmgren liked Ryan a lot. I don't know if the guy his head coaching material, considering his defenses were usually inconsistant. He'd be entertaining as a head coach, to say the least, and I think it was fairly significant that the defense ran out as a group with Ryan leading the way. The players love him. That being said, he is a bit of a loose cannon whose words could come back to bite him. It will be interesting to see what happens with him -- I wouldn't be surprised if he was retained by Holmgren as DC if he didn't find a head coaching gig.

Do you have any candidates you believe should be kept an eye on? Any opinions on the coaching search? Feel free to comment on them below.

Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!