Grossi's NFL Insider: A Mangini-Kokinis package is a back to the future move by Browns
by Tony Grossi/Plain Dealer Reporter
Saturday January 03, 2009, 6:28 PM
As Browns owner Randy Lerner moves toward hiring fired Jets coach Eric Mangini (above), he further reveals his fascination with the Patriots/Bill Belichick management tree.
One NFL executive observing the Browns' GM and coaching search commented, "In these situations, sometimes it's not who interviews first but who interviews last" who makes the biggest impression.
Let's hope so.
After one busy week of interviews, owner Randy Lerner is said to be enamored with Eric Mangini as coach and Scott Pioli as general manager, but he fears that the the two can't co-exist. So Lerner may choose Mangini and let him pick his personnel chief to assure they work arm-in-arm.
It is no secret in the NFL that one of Mangini's best friends in the business is George Kokinis, currently the director of pro personnel for the Baltimore Ravens. If Mangini wants to lure Kokinis as his right-hand man, he would have to formally cede total football authority to Kokinis. Anything less than that and Kokinis would not be able to leave the Ravens.
So how does a Kokinis-Mangini duo grab you?
Wow.
There are good "wows" and bad "wows." A good wow would mean Bill Parcells or Bill Cowher or Mike Shanahan entering the picture.
The other kind of wow is the equivalent of "Are you kidding me?"
Kokinis, 41, is yet another branch of the Bill Belichick tree sown in Cleveland in the early 1990s. As is Mangini. As is Pioli. As is Kirk Ferentz, Pioli's alleged favorite coaching candidate. As was Phil Savage.
The Browns have been obsessed with the Belichick "tree" ever since Belichick departed Cleveland and created a dynasty with the New England Patriots. Nobody has been able to do in Cleveland what Belichick has done in New England. That includes Belichick. So the Browns might want to expand their horizons.
Possible alternatives: Atlanta President Rich McKay reportedly told the Browns not to consider him a candidate for chief football executive until they finish all their due diligence and conduct the rest of their interviews.
You can't blame McKay if he doesn't want to be part of this circus. He is over-qualified for the position Lerner appears to be favoring.
McKay fits as an overseer, an experienced football executive who could re-establish the Browns' football culture by hiring his own general manager-type and coach.
He also is a polished public communicator and would bring to the Browns a much-needed expertise in law. The Princeton-educated McKay was a licensed attorney and was Tampa Bay's chief legal counsel before embarking as a football executive. You don't think McKay could have prevented the fiasco that unfolded this year with Kellen Winslow?
Continued