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Mangini, Holmgren meeting today
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo
Cleveland Browns coach Eric Mangini walks to the locker room after the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
By Tony Grossi
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND
At the conclusion of probably his last post-game press conference as Browns coach, Eric Mangini said to the assembled media, “Thanks for being patient with me. I tried to be better this year.”
You wonder if he’ll use the same line in his scheduled meeting this morning with president Mike Holmgren. They will meet as players clean out their lockers for the last time.
All indications are that Holmgren made up his mind on making a change before the Browns suffered their worst defeat of the season, 41-9, to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
The loss gave the Browns a second 5-11 season in a row under Mangini. This one left a bad taste because they lost their last four games as opposed to winning their last four.
“Five wins is five wins,” said linebacker David Bowens, declining to rate Mangini’s two years as coach.
Mangini struck a much more somber tone after this season finale than a year ago, of course, when his players celebrated the four-game winning streak by dumping Gatorade over him.
“We’ll get together [today] and see where it goes,” he said of the meeting with Holmgren. “I think the team has done a lot of good things this season. It’s difficult to feel any of those positives right now in wake of what just happened.”
After the Steelers went ahead, 14-0, the Browns moved 80 yards to the Steelers’ 2. On fourth down, Mangini chose to kick a 19-yard field goal rather than go for the touchdown — a common theme for him. The shivering crowd booed in disgust.
“I didn’t really anticipate us not being able to slow them down defensively,” Mangini explained. “I didn’t want to come away from that drive with no points.”
After the game, Mangini thanked his players for their effort all year and said he hoped to see them next year. But there was definitely a scent of change in the air as players fielded repeated questions about Mangini’s future.
“I’m sure everybody thinks there is a possibility [of a coaching change],” said left tackle Joe Thomas. “We knew that was the way it was going to be coming into the season, so I don’t think anything was different.”
A league source said the acknowledged philosophical differences between Holmgren and Mangini — mostly on the offensive side — were never reconciled in their one season together. In his only public comments during the season in early November, Holmgren was critical of the offense and the passing game, in particular.