ATENEARS Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 While Kokinis has his skeptics, former Browns GM Accorsi is a big booster SOURCE: Cleveland Plain Dealer By Jamie Turner January 07, 2009, 7:01PM CLEVELAND --- If the Browns indeed pair up new coach Eric Mangini with GM candidate George Kokinis, they will be seeking to duplicate the success enjoyed by the Atlanta Falcons this year. Atlanta turned around its fortunes in one year with a young, rookie general manager at the helm. Thomas Dimitroff, 43, was an out-of-left field candidate to reshape the Falcons and now he is taking bows for transforming them from 4-12 to 11-5 in one year. Kokinis, 41, the Baltimore Ravens pro personnel director, is the hand-picked choice of Mangini to be the next Browns general manager. The Browns have interviewed Patriots vice president of personnel Scott Pioli and have received permission to interview Eagles General Manager Tom Heckert. But many consider a Mangini-Kokinis pairing to be a fait accompli because of the strong relationship they've had over the years. They were among the hungry and driven entry-level staffers who worked essentially as gofers for Bill Belichick in his five seasons as Browns coach in the early 1990s. Pioli was part of the group. So was Mike Tannenbaum, who eventually became Jets GM. So was Phil Savage, the recently fired Browns GM. When Belichick was fired by Art Modell after the 1995 season, most of his staff moved to Baltimore. Kokinis is the only one from that pack still with the Ravens. Mangini tried to hire him with the Jets on at least two occasions. But because Tannenbaum held the top football authority with the Jets, the Ravens had the right to block a lateral move for Kokinis. Kokinis could only join the Browns as GM or similar position, contractually assured the final say on all football decisions. Is he ready for that? One veteran NFL executive said, "Hiring a GM is like drafting a quarterback. You bring in a rookie and, unfortunately, there's a learning curve in the NFL. I think it just depends on how much a learning curve you want to go through." Another veteran NFL executive said, "He's really less prepared [than Savage] because he's only doing pro personnel." Savage held the title of director of player personnel with Baltimore, which meant he directly supervised the Ravens' college scouting and pro scouting departments. When Savage left in 2005 for the Browns' job, the Ravens did not fill his job. Kokinis (pro personnel) and Eric DeCosta (director of college scouting) merely reported directly to General Manager Ozzie Newsome. "You look at the Ravens and they're built through the draft, not through free agency," observed one source. Also, Dimitroff, the model in Atlanta, served five years as Belichick's director of college scouting with New England before making the jump to GM. Kokinis has been in the Ravens' pro personnel department for nine years -- six as director -- after working as a college scout for four years. Ernie Accorsi offers a different opinion. The former Browns executive -- now retired after building the New York Giants championship team -- served as a consultant for the Falcons last year when owner Arthur Blank went looking to rebuild his football operation. "My three recommendations were Dimitroff, Tom Heckert and Kokinis," Accorsi said. "Blank really loved Dimitroff and hired him before interviewing Kokinis." It turns out that Accorsi -- and not Belichick -- was the man responsible for bringing Kokinis to Cleveland in 1991. Kokinis had been a baseball graduate assistant at University of Richmond when Accorsi's godson played for the team. Accorsi gave Kokinis an entry level job in the Browns' operations department. After Accorsi left the following year, Belichick took Kokinis under his large wing. "Everybody fell in love with him," Accorsi said of Kokinis, who was 24 at the time. "Hard worker, smart, a great kid. Now, over the years, I'd lost touch with him. But through my scouts [with the Giants], I got to know of him well. I'd ask about him all the time, and everybody liked him. Ozzie was really high on him." Accorsi debunks the theory that a general manager is best qualified coming through the scouting ranks, since the draft is the lifeblood of the NFL. "Number one, I think he did plenty of college scouting," Accorsi said. "Number two, [former NFL executive and Hall of Famer] Jim Finks always told me that for the GM job, it's more important to have a pro personnel background. "His reasoning was you always have time to prepare for the draft. What's more important is to know the league, not only the players but what it takes to play in the league. The NFL game changes, positions change. The coaches know the league and the pro personnel guys know the league. A lot of the college scouts, they don't see the NFL games much. "Listen, it's the person that matters, but you're better off being a pro guy because you're going to know the league. You can always get ready for the draft. Finks would preach, 'Look at pro tape, look at pro tape.'" Newsome said he would not even entertain questions about Kokinis while he is going through the Browns' interview process. Another NFL team executive summed up Kokinis this way: "He's a real good guy and works 24 hours a day. He's one of those guys that sleeps in the office." Accorsi thinks Kokinis is ready to make the jump. "The more research I did, the more I was convinced of it," Accorsi said. "He works like hell. He's a great guy. But you never know. These jobs can change people because the pressure and scrutiny is so great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATENEARS Posted November 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 The reason I pin this article up is to rebuff the notion that Lerner just goes into these hirings on a quiick whim, instead he confines in trusted, respective 'football people' to help him make these decision. What more can we ask? Give Kokinis and Mangini a chance at next years draft, it is said to be their strengths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClevelandFanForLife Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 The reason I pin this article up is to rebuff the notion that Lerner just goes into these hirings on a quiick whim, instead he confines in trusted, respective 'football people' to help him make these decision. this is perhaps the biggest reason i hate lerner. he makese these rash decisions because they are the "sexy pick". he knows nothing about what he is doing and relies on people around him to make the tough decisions. he is a yes man to his employees and friends and has no backbone whatsoever. even more: he has no football sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel88 Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 this is perhaps the biggest reason i hate lerner. he makese these rash decisions because they are the "sexy pick". he knows nothing about what he is doing and relies on people around him to make the tough decisions. he is a yes man to his employees and friends and has no backbone whatsoever. even more: he has no football sense. Yes he admits he has no football sense, but neither do half the other owners in the league, they just hired the right guy. Falcons definitely wouldn't be in the shape they are if it wasn't for taking Accorsi's advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClevelandFanForLife Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 Yes he admits he has no football sense, but neither do half the other owners in the league, they just hired the right guy. Falcons definitely wouldn't be in the shape they are if it wasn't for taking Accorsi's advice. i understand that he is a business man and he knows that he has no football sense but he has to know to stay away from a guy who just got fired and NO OTHER TEAM even wanted to interview him. it is like going camping in california in late summer/early fall. you will get burned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel88 Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 i understand that he is a business man and he knows that he has no football sense but he has to know to stay away from a guy who just got fired and NO OTHER TEAM even wanted to interview him. it is like going camping in california in late summer/early fall. you will get burned. How do you know no other team wanted him? Ernie Accorsi recommended him and he(Accorsi) is pretty good at finding front office people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClevelandFanForLife Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 How do you know no other team wanted him? because it's been documented that he only had interviews with one team. nobody else even wanted to call him in for a single interview. they knew he is no good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel88 Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 because it's been documented that he only had interviews with one team. nobody else even wanted to call him in for a single interview. they knew he is no good. See that was all that was documented, and I don't believe it to be the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownIndian Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 That is nice but did Ernie Accorsi recommend Mangini ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATENEARS Posted November 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 That is nice but did Ernie Accorsi recommend Mangini ? Good question, I'm still searching for who recommended Mangini or did Lerner just get blown away in an interview with him. From what it sounds like to me is that Lerner was in the process of interviewing both Mangin and Kokinis, and that both had mutal respect for one another and Lerner felt it was going to be a good fit, and that was most important to him as Savage and Crennel perhaps were not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselPusher Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 Not sure who recommended Mangini, but remember the article that stated Lerner was getting ready to talk to the press and the press told him that Mangini was just fired. Lerner basically cancelled his press meeting and went to get Mangini. Lerner took Mangnini off the market before anyone could interview him. It would be nice to find out who recommended mangini to Lerner, hope it wasn't RAC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownIndian Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 initially when RAC was fired and Mangini was hired i too was happy cos it did seem like an upgrade, but never did i realize that we would be heading towards where we are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClevelandFanForLife Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 See that was all that was documented, and I don't believe it to be the case. well then dig through the old threads about mangini's hiring from 10 months ago or google eric mangini being hired by the browns. there is plenty of evidence there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATENEARS Posted November 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 What a morning to launch this thread, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DestinFunk Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 What a morning to launch this thread, huh? indeed.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl34 Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Accorsi did recommend Mangini Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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