Despite the Weekly Protests, Firing Eric Mangini Accomplishes Nothing
The dark abyss the Browns seem to be sinking deeper into each and every week continues to upset owner Randy Lerner, but he has said he will not make a coaching change during the team’s upcoming bye week. Despite the recent beatdown from the Chicago Bears, 30-6, dropping the Browns’ record to 1-7 and causing running back Jamal Lewis to say this will be his final season, Lerner maintains that he is sticking with Mangini.
There has been a growing uproar for Lerner to dump Mangini and perhaps make a run at Bill Cowher again in the off-season. Despite all this protestation, it would put the Browns in an even worse situation. What people seem to be forgetting is that Mangini has inherited this putrid team from Phil Savage and Friends, and hardly any of these players are guys Mangini will keep around if given a full chance.
It’s ironic though, that Mangini is not being given enough time to prove himself, because that is exactly the situation surrounding quarterback Brady Quinn, one of Mangini’s biggest mistakes so far this season. By no means am I saying he is a perfect coach, because he has horribly mishandled the quarterback situation, but he has to be given a chance to turn this team around. There will be 11 picks in the upcoming NFL Draft, and even then he will need another couple of years to try and right this ship that sank a long time ago.
What good would it do to once again dismantle the team? There hasn’t been true stability in the organization since its return in 1999, so with things as bad as they are, what’s the harm in finally sticking it out with a coach? There is only one person worth firing Mangini over at this point, and it’s Bill Cowher. Unless he comes out of retirement immediately, which always seems to be up in the air, Mangini should continue to be the head coach of the Browns.