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Eric Mangini

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Eric Mangini
Mangini posing with sunglasses
Mangini in 2012
Personal information
Born: (1971-01-19) January 19, 1971 (age 53)
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Career information
High school:Hartford (CT) Bulkeley
College:Wesleyan
Position:Nose tackle
Career history
As a coach:
Career highlights and awards
Head coaching record
Regular season:33–47 (.413)
Postseason:0–1 (.000)
Career:33–48 (.407)
Record at Pro Football Reference

Eric Anthony Mangini (born January 19, 1971) is a former American football coach and current television sports analyst. Mangini is a former head coach, having served as the coach of the New York Jets from 2006 until 2008 and the Cleveland Browns in 2009 until 2010. After departing Cleveland, Mangini became an NFL analyst for ESPN. He returned to coaching with the San Francisco 49ers, starting in 2013 as the team's tight ends coach before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2015, only to be fired in 2016 by new head coach Chip Kelly.[1] Mangini then became an analyst for Fox Sports 1.[2]

Mangini is also known for being a former assistant under Bill Belichick, serving under him as a defensive assistant while Belichick was the defensive coordinator with the Jets and later following him to the New England Patriots.

Playing career

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High school

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Mangini was a linebacker at Bulkeley High School in Hartford, Connecticut.

College

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Mangini played nose tackle at Division III Wesleyan University and holds the school's single-season (11.5) and career (36.5) sacks records.[3] During the second semester of his junior and senior years, he coached the Kew Colts in 1991–92, a semi-professional football team in Melbourne, Australia, to two regional championships.[4] Mangini joined the Chi Psi fraternity that coaching mentor Bill Belichick, another Wesleyan alumnus, was part of two decades earlier.

Coaching career

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NFL

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Assistant coach

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Mangini first caught the attention of Bill Belichick, under whom he would coach for nine seasons, as a 23-year-old ball boy with the Cleveland Browns. His work ethic impressed Belichick, and the head coach was instrumental in promoting Mangini to a public relations intern, and later, an offensive assistant.[5]

After spending 1996 as an offensive assistant with the Baltimore Ravens, Mangini rejoined Belichick[6] and spent three seasons as a defensive assistant with the New York Jets. When Belichick was hired as the New England Patriots head coach in 2000, he brought along Mangini[7] as his defensive backs coach. Mangini, who won three Super Bowls with the Patriots, turned down defensive coordinator positions with the Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns before accepting the role with New England in 2005.[8]

Head coach

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New York Jets

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Mangini, 35, became the youngest head coach in the NFL when he was hired by the New York Jets on January 17, 2006, to replace Herm Edwards. He beat internal candidates Donnie Henderson, Mike Heimerdinger and Mike Westhoff and external candidates Jim Haslett, Mike Tice, Tim Lewis and Joe Vitt for the job.[9] He was quickly nicknamed "The Penguin" by receiver Laveranues Coles because of his waddle and fierce stare.[10]

In his first season, Mangini led the Jets to a 10–6 record and a postseason berth with NFL Comeback Player of the Year quarterback Chad Pennington. The Jets, who finished the previous year 4–12, lost to the New England Patriots in a wild card playoff game.

The Jets went 4–12 in 2007, failing to make the playoffs. Early in the regular season, Mangini complained to league officials that Belichick's Patriots illegally filmed the Jets' defensive signals, exposing the "Spygate" scandal.

In 2008, a late season collapse—the Jets missed the playoffs despite an 8–3 start—led to Mangini's firing on December 29, 2008, one day after the season ended.[11]

Cleveland Browns

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Mangini was hired as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns on January 7, 2009, signing a four-year deal.[12] Mangini faced early criticism in his tenure with the Browns for his tendency to micromanage the team and his disregard for the team's history (one of his first acts was to tear down a mural of Browns' greats on the wall of the team office). Sports Illustrated columnist Joe Posnanski went so far as to call Mangini's hiring by the Browns as the worst coaching hire from the past 25 years.[13] In his 2013 memoir, former player Nate Jackson, who was briefly part of the Browns' practice squad during the 2009 preseason, sharply criticized Mangini. Jackson wrote that Mangini's coaching style had so alienated his players that they seemed "deep in despair" with "no fight left in them" only a few months after Mangini took over.[14]

After starting his first season in Cleveland 1–11, the team bounced back with a win over their division rival and defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. This started a four-game winning streak to end the season with a 5–11 record. On January 7, 2010, it was announced that Mike Holmgren had decided to retain Mangini as head coach of the Browns for the 2010 season.[15]

Mangini's second season was highlighted with back-to-back upsets over the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots. The Browns were forced to start rookie quarterback Colt McCoy due to injuries to starting quarterback Jake Delhomme. The season also saw the breakout of running back Peyton Hillis. These developments, however, did not amount to any marked improvement, as the Browns once again finished 5–11.

On January 3, 2011, Mangini was fired with a 10–22 record as the head coach of the Browns.

San Francisco 49ers

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Mangini was hired by the San Francisco 49ers as a senior offensive consultant on June 4, 2013. On February 20, 2014, he was promoted to be the tight ends coach. On January 22, 2015, he was again promoted to be the defensive coordinator.[16] However, after just one season, he was released along with most of the coaching staff after head coach Jim Tomsula was fired and replaced by Chip Kelly.[1]

Head coaching record

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Mangini (far right) with Leslie Frazier, Bill Cowher and Ben Kotwica in 2012
Team Year Regular season Postseason
Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
NYJ 2006 10 6 0 .625 2nd in AFC East 0 1 .000 Lost to New England Patriots in AFC wild card game
NYJ 2007 4 12 0 .250 3rd in AFC East — — — —
NYJ 2008 9 7 0 .563 3rd in AFC East — — — —
NYJ total 23 25 0 .479 0 1 .000
CLE 2009 5 11 0 .313 4th in AFC North — — — —
CLE 2010 5 11 0 .313 3rd in AFC North — — — —
CLE total 10 22 0 .313 — — —
Total 33 47 0 .413 0 1 .000

Personal life

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Mangini and his wife Julie have three sons.[17]

While coaching the Jets, Mangini was a resident of Harding Township, New Jersey.[18]

Toronto Blue Jays' president Mark Shapiro is Mangini's brother-in-law and sports agent Ron Shapiro, who currently represents him, is his father-in-law.[19]

Mangini had a cameo role in the penultimate episode of the crime drama The Sopranos.[20] In the scene, Mangini is referred to by his nickname, "Mangenius".

On August 4, 2011, it was announced that Mangini would join ESPN as an NFL studio analyst on NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN First Take, and other programs.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b Smith, Michael David (January 22, 2016). "Chip Kelly fires Eric Mangini as 49ers defensive coordinator". ESPN. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  2. ^ Andrew Bucholtz (August 8, 2017). "Eric Dickerson joins Fox Sports' crowded group of FS1 NFL analysts". Awful Announcing. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  3. ^ "Eric Mangini takes over as head coach of the New York Jets". Wesleyan Sports Information. January 17, 2006. Archived from the original on July 8, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  4. ^ Solomon, Jerome (July 26, 2005). "Winning formula: Patriots' Mangini draws on varied past". The Boston Globe. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  5. ^ "'That Eric kid' now Pats' DB guru". New York Daily News. February 4, 2005. Retrieved March 16, 2009. [dead link‍]
  6. ^ "Belichick busy filling staff". Rome News-Tribune. February 7, 1997. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  7. ^ Battista, Judy (January 29, 2000). "Belichick Begins Work As Just a Coach For Now". The New York Times. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  8. ^ "Players are all ears in Mangini's class". The Providence Journal. August 30, 2005. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  9. ^ "Jets hire Mangini, NFL's youngest, to replace Edwards". Bloomberg. January 17, 2006. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  10. ^ Crouse, Karen (September 17, 2006). "Mangini Is Trying to Make Strong Strides With a Waddle and Hum". The New York Times. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  11. ^ "Mangini fired after 3 seasons with Jets". ESPN. December 29, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  12. ^ "Mangini agrees to coach Browns". ESPN. January 8, 2009. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  13. ^ Posnanski, Joe (September 29, 2009). "Mangini: Worst coaching hire ever?". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
  14. ^ Jackson, Nate (August 7, 2013). "Mangini's Mess: Sent to Save the Cleveland Browns, Eric Mangini Instead Put on a Clinic on How to Drive a Team's Morale Into the Ground". Cleveland Scene. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  15. ^ "Mangini to return as Browns' coach". ESPN. Associated Press. January 7, 2010. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  16. ^ Sessler, Marc (January 22, 2015). "Niners tab Eric Mangini as defensive coordinator". NFL.com. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  17. ^ "As pledged, Mangini gives son middle name Brett in QB's honor". ESPN. Associated Press. October 11, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  18. ^ Cacciola, Scott (November 11, 2010). "A Smiling 'Mangenius' Returns Former Jets Coach Says: 'Some People Actually Think I Have a Good Personality'". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 2, 2019. But he still worries about his house, a six-bedroom Colonial on 3.2 acres in Harding Township listed at $3.45 million
  19. ^ "Hiring of Mangini a family reunion for Indians GM Shapiro". The Plain Dealer. January 8, 2009. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  20. ^ Mangini's cameo in The Sopranos on YouTube
  21. ^ "Eric Mangini joins ESPN". ESPN. August 4, 2011. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
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