CLEVELAND BROWNS FIRST VICTIM: KOKINIS

By MARY KAY CABOT

GM axed; Mangini stays on

The hand-picked GM epitomized the phrase “silent partner.”

BEREA — Browns General Manager George Kokinis was escorted out of the Browns facility in Berea by security Monday and is believed to have been fired.

After reports surfaced that Kokinis was fired, the team issued an awkwardly worded statement Monday night saying the GM “is no longer actively involved with the organization.” The Browns also denied reports that Kokinis was escorted from their team headquarters.

Kokinis was handpicked by Browns coach Eric Mangini to be his GM, but was barely heard from after his hiring in January. Both began their careers in Cleveland as underlings to Bill Belichick in the early 1990s.

One league source said “Kokinis is a great guy who does not deserve this. He is taking the fall for the team’s problems and it’s not right.”

Lerner spent considerable time following Sunday’s 30-6 loss to the Bears on Sunday talking 1-on-1 with Dawn Aponte, the team’s vice president for football administration, who was under Kokinis’ jurisdiction in the football operations department.

Afterwards, Lerner told two reporters that he wouldn’t fire Mangini during the bye this week but that was searching for a football authority to guide the organization.

“There’s absolutely no question about that,” he said. “The highest priority that I have is a strong, credible, serious leader within the building to guide decisions in a far more conspicuous, open transparent way. I can maybe defend decisions by saying I’ve sought advice and I’ve brought people in, and we’ve gone to see people and I think my highest priority is to have a stable figure that represents the voice that explains the decisions.”

Even though Mangini has been the voice of the organization since his hiring, Lerner seemed irked that Kokinis didn’t take a more high-profile role in the organization. In fact, he encouraged him to be interviewed recently by Sports Illustrated.

Kokinis’ ouster comes just days after the Browns dismissed Mangini’s hand-picked director of team operations, Eric O’Brien.

O’Brien was Mangini’s right-hand assistant with the Jets.The move also comes just weeks after Lerner brought Bernie Kosar on board in an unofficial capacity as another pair of eyes.

Kokinis, who had final say on the 53-man roster, had 18 years’ NFL experience, including 13 with the Ravens.

Earlier Monday, Mangini said he spoke by phone with Randy Lerner and has the owner’s support despite Cleveland’s 1-7 start to a season growing worse.

“I never got a feeling otherwise in all my conversations with Randy,” Mangini said.

Mangini is dismayed by the losing but remains confident the Browns will improve.

“This is a process,” Mangini said. “We talked about that quite a bit, and that doesn’t change. There’s things that go along with that and that doesn’t mean we’re not looking to win every game, it doesn’t mean we’re not looking to improve each week.

“On the contrary, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Mangini said he shared Lerner’s distaste for the Browns’ putrid performance so far.

“But I also believe in the things that we’re doing and I understand it doesn’t happen overnight,” he said. “There’s not one formula in terms of specific ingredients, but there is a very specific approach that you have to take and I believe in that. It has been successful. It will be successful here.”

X The Associated Press contributed to this report.