Browns reach deal with Holmgren as president

The Super Bowl-winning coach will evaluate Eric Mangini as coach.

By MARY KAY CABOT

the Plain Dealer

BEREA — The Cleveland Browns have reached agreement with Mike Holmgren to become club president, the team announced Monday.

Holmgren’s role will not include coaching, meaning he’ll have to evaluate whether or not he wants to keep Eric Mangini.

The team also has announced that former president Mike Keenan will transition to the role of chief financial officer.

“We are pleased to announce that Mike Holmgren has agreed to join the Cleveland Browns,” said owner Randy Lerner in a statement released by the team. “We will spend the rest of the week finalizing details of the agreement and will make a formal announcement next week, at which time we will make him available to the media.”

Holmgren said on his weekly radio show last Friday that if he took the job, he’d give coach Eric Mangini a chance to prove himself. He said “it’s not fair” to come in and fire a coach after one season, but that he understands sometimes tough decisions aren’t fair.

Holmgren cited Bill Parcells’ firing of Cam Cameron in Miami when the former coach took over as the Dolphins’ “football czar.”

“Those types of decisions sometimes, the tough decisions, sometimes they aren’t fair,” Holmgren said. “But I would do everything in my power to make sure it’s the right one and that everyone gets a chance to prove themselves.”

A league source said Lerner was hoping that whoever he brought in would see that Mangini’s plan was working — and there’s been evidence of that in recent weeks, including back-to-back victories over Pittsburgh and Kansas City.

Mangini also has the support of executive advisor Jim Brown, who said he deserves to keep his job, especially if he continues to show improvement.

Terms of Holmgren’s deal were not disclosed, previous reports have estimated it could be around $5 million a year. On Saturday, Holmgren turned down an offer for a high-level post with the Seahawks, which, according to the Seattle Times, was the president’s role.

Holmgren told the paper that the Seahawks position did not give him full authority to run the team. In Cleveland, Holmgren will be able to write his own ticket, which might include hiring a general manager to run the personnel department.

Interestingly, Holmgren’s agreement with the Browns came exactly one year to the day after he coached Seattle to a 13-3 win over Mangini’s New York Jets, essentially ending the Jets’ playoff chances and finishing off Mangini, who was fired following last season.

Holmgren said the biggest attraction to the job for him was the fact that there were “no layers” between him and Lerner.

In addition to deciding on Mangini, Holmgren will also have to determine if Brady Quinn is the team’s quarterback of the future — or if they might need to draft a quarterback with their high first-round pick.

Holmgren, who coached the Packers for seven years and the Seahawks for 10, has won one Super Bowl and taken his teams to two others. He has a 161-111 regular season record and 13-11 in the playoffs. He served as general manager as well as coach of the Seahawks from 1999-2002 before being relieved of his GM duties so he could concentrate on coaching.

Holmgren stepped down as the Seahawks coach after last season to spend more time with his family. However, the chance to rebuild another franchise was too much for him to resist and he’s stepping out of semi-retirement to take on the Browns, who have desperately needed someone of his renown for years.

“The challenge of rebuilding is kind of in my blood,” Holmgren said last week.

Not long before announcing Holmgren’s hiring, the Browns were informed that former GM George Kokinis had filed arbitration with the NFL claiming he was unjustly fired. Kokinis was dismissed on Nov. 2 after nine months on the job. He is seeking more than $4 million in compensation and damages.

Browns general counsel Fred Nance said the team was aware of Kokinis’ filing.

“We’ve received it and are reviewing it,” Nance said through a team spokesman.

XThe Associated Press contributed to this report.