CLEVELandMILIDH Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Mangini, Kokinis marriage was doomed from the start Posted by Mike Florio on November 2, 2009 11:29 PM ET It's beyond dispute that Browns owner Randy Lerner got it backward in January, when he hired coach Eric Mangini before hiring G.M. George Kokinis. Under a Patriots-style arrangement, the situation could have worked if Mangini had final say over the roster and the draft, and if Mangini and Kokinis worked together to build consensus on players and draft picks. But we've been reminded tonight that, in order to finagle Kokinis away from the Ravens, the Browns had to give final say to Kokinis. And the Browns did, at least in theory. The problem? Kokinis apparently believed that his contract meant what it said regarding the extent of his authority. And so we're told that Kokinis and Mangini repeatedly butted heads, and that their friendship quickly disintegrated due to their inability to reach an agreement on multiple personnel decisions. It remains to be seen what will happen next. ESPN's Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen report that Lerner hopes to hire Ernie Accorsi as a consultant. We've heard some speculation that Accorsi might already be involved, even though Accorsi recommended Kokinis for the job. In fact, one publication already is reporting that Accorsi will take over as the team's General Manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClevelandFanForLife Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 i just can't believe that after butch davis that lerner would give a coach as much power as he did with mangini. he doesn't learn from his mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeSixPat Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 So maybe it was Kokinis who forced Mangini to bring in all the mediocre to bad former Jets... This seems to be an unfortunate trend for Mangini as he was previously forced to name his son "Brett" and bring in Favre as the QB by Tannenbaum when with the Jets. Frankly though I'm a bit surprised about this particular spin from the Browns. Mangini was hired first - a move most felt was backwards - and then they hired the GM... and Kokinis was the hand picked GM by Mangini so it was natural to assume Mangini had the ultimate authority to hire and fire - and therefore make all final personnel calls. If they've let Kokinis go "for cause" and without pay, I'd expect Kokinis will be sharing some details of his stay with the team. Talking too much may hurt his chances of getting a new job if he's perceived as stabbing his old team in the back, but then again that didn't seem to hurt Mangini Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosar_For_President Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 So maybe it was Kokinis who forced Mangini to bring in all the mediocre to bad former Jets... That's exactly what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLEVELandMILIDH Posted November 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Mangini dodges GM questions by Marla Ridenour on November 3, 2009 in Uncategorized Browns coach Eric Mangini addressed Monday's departure of general manager George Kokinis at his Tuesday press conference, but dodged nearly every question about what transpired. "The decision that was made yesterday, any time a decision like that is made it's difficult personally and professionally. George is a friend of mine and I respect him and I wish his family well. I can tell you for a variety of reasons, things didn't work out. You never go into a situation like this with the intention of it not working out. We felt organizationally this was the best decision in order to move forward. We have a strong structure in place on both the pro side and the college side and will continue to operate effectively on a day-to-day basis." When asked if he was unable to talk about Kokinis because of legal issues regarding Kokinis' contract, Mangini said, "There's a variety of reasons and I'll leave it at that." ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported Monday night that the Browns were trying to reach a settlement with Kokinis in which he would resign, but that Kokinis would not agree. Leave a Comment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
professor_g Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 I didn't think it was such a big deal that Mangini was hired first. What mattered, I thought, was whether Kokinis would bring an independent, intelligent perspective and that important decisions would be reached by extended, thoughtful dialogue, not by the gut feelings of a football dictator. Apparently they just couldn't get on the same page. Either that or Kokinis really was a scapegoat. But look, in a way it is less worrisome if he was just a scapegoat. It's more worrisome if Mangini is unable to work together with a GM. If that's the situation, then all of this is going to end very badly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballpeen Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 I didn't think it was such a big deal that Mangini was hired first. What mattered, I thought, was whether Kokinis would bring an independent, intelligent perspective and that important decisions would be reached by extended, thoughtful dialogue, not by the gut feelings of a football dictator. Apparently they just couldn't get on the same page. Either that or Kokinis really was a scapegoat. But look, in a way it is less worrisome if he was just a scapegoat. It's more worrisome if Mangini is unable to work together with a GM. If that's the situation, then all of this is going to end very badly. And it may....for him. Whoever is brought in as GM/President won't be brought in with stipulations on who coaches and who doesn't coach. If he feels Gini needs to go, he goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
professor_g Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 And it may....for him. Whoever is brought in as GM/President won't be brought in with stipulations on who coaches and who doesn't coach. If he feels Gini needs to go, he goes. Yeah, good point. Mangini will have a pretty good motive to try and work together with the future GM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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