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Mangini’s future in doubt

CLEVELAND (AP) — Eric Mangini was a ball boy and wide-eyed media relations intern for the Browns the last time they won four straight games. In 1994, one year before Cleveland’s unimaginable move as a franchise to Baltimore, Mangini’s future in the NFL seemed boundless.

Now, his time in Cleveland could be up: Mangini may not make it to his one-year anniversary as Browns coach.

Fired after the Jets completed their belly slide to the finish last season, Mangini was quickly snapped up by Browns owner Randy Lerner, who hired him on Jan. 8, 2009, hoping the coach once tabbed “Mangenius” by the New York tabloids could revive his lousy team.

Mangini has at least partially restored the Browns — just maybe too late to save himself.

Riding a three-game winning streak, Cleveland today will attempt to close out a season with four consecutive wins for the first time since 1986 when the Browns host the Jacksonville Jaguars (7-8), whose AFC playoff hopes are dangling by the tiniest thread.

Mangini is hanging, too.

New Browns president Mike Holmgren will arrive Monday to begin an overhaul that could include Mangini’s immediate dismissal. Holmgren said on a conference call this week from his home in Arizona he has not yet decided the coach’s fate, but promised he wouldn’t need long to make up his mind.

By midweek, the Browns could be looking for their fifth coach in 11 years.

Holmgren said he would weigh Mangini’s entire tenure — from January to January — and not just its parts. The former Green Bay and Seattle coach was careful not to tip his hand on his plans, but the man nicknamed “The Show” made it clear he would be the one calling all the shots.

“I get the final say on everything, which is fun,” he said, chuckling.

Holmgren doesn’t believe the Browns need to be “blown up.” He credits Mangini and his coaching staff for preparing the Browns (4-11), who have their fair share of injuries, to play every week. Holmgren said their December uprising could be a sign that the players have bought into Mangini’s program.

From the outside, it appears to Holmgren the Browns are making progress.

“The current staff has tried very, very hard to start that process. To restart it all over again, I don’t think we have to do that, I really don’t,” he said. “I hope it doesn’t appear that way when we roll up our sleeves and dive in there. Now we just have to really identify areas where we need to get better and then figure out what the best way to handle that is.”