Mangini canned.....

**UTVols2** · December 29th, 2008, 01:57 PM

Mangini fired after 3 seasons with Jets

Jets Fire Head Coach Eric Mangini

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- The New York Jets fired coach Eric Mangini on Monday, a day after a team that harbored Super Bowl hopes with five games left failed to make the playoffs.

The Jets started the season 8-3 under quarterback Brett Favre, beating New England and Tennessee on the road in consecutive weeks and raising visions among fans of the team's first Super Bowl trip since 1969.

But they went 1-4 in their final five games, losing to Denver, San Francisco, Seattle and Miami and barely beating Buffalo. They did not reach the postseason for the second straight year despite an offseason spending spree that included a trade for Favre after his retirement and return at Green Bay.

The 39-year-old Favre had just two touchdown passes and nine interceptions in those final five games. He led the league in interceptions with 22 and complained after Sunday's 24-17 loss to Miami of pain in his right shoulder and neck.

Lack of approval

As the Jets' season sank with four losses in the last five games, so did Eric Mangini's stock in ESPN.com's SportsNation NFL coach approval ratings.
Mangini's rating | All coaches

Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said Monday the organization wants the 39-year-old Favre to return for 2009 and fulfill the final year of his contract.

Some of Favre's Jets teammates agree.

"I would love to see him back next year," receiver Jerricho Cotchery said after Sunday's game. "You don't learn the ins and outs of this offense in a couple of months so I would love to see him come back and get the chance to learn the [offense] ... and get an offseason of [preparation] in so we can turn some things around."

The win gave the Dolphins the AFC East title under Chad Pennington, the Jets' longtime quarterback who was cut when the team obtained Favre.

The 37-year-old Mangini was called by owner Woody Johnson one of the league's up-and-coming coaches, but went 23-26 in three seasons in his first head coaching job. He had another year remaining on his contract.

"For the current New York Jets organization, we've made the decision to move on," Johnson said at a news conference Monday. "It's a judgment call.

"I don't think it was one thing," he added. "We had to go in a different direction. There's nothing specific. It's just a call we made. Hopefully, it's correct."

As a rookie coach, Mangini took a team that had been 4-12 the previous year to the playoffs with a 10-6 record in 2006 and earned the nickname "Mangenius" from the local tabloids.

Johnson said the final decision was made Sunday night, but the process had been going on a long time. He met with the coach Monday morning.

"We thanked him for all the good things he had done for us," Johnson said. "We thanked him for his dedication and his loyalty. But he understood."

Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum praised Mangini, saying he did not think he had lost the team.

"One way to answer that, if you look at the way the team played [Sunday] night, I thought they played hard," Tannenbaum said. "Saw a lot of guys running hard to the ball and I thought special teams, they played with a lot of energy."

The Jets, 4-12 a year ago, began the offseason by spending $140 million on veterans, notably offensive linemen Alan Faneca and Damien Woody and linebacker Calvin Pace. They also traded linebacker Jonathan Vilma, a young standout, because he did not fit Mangini's 3-4 scheme and traded for Kris Jenkins, a 350-pound defensive tackle with a history of back problems.

Jenkins was dominant early on but tailed off toward the end of the season, as did the rest of the defense.

"Hopefully, we'll be better in all those areas," Johnson said.

Before joining the Jets, Mangini served as New England's defensive coordinator under Bill Belichick for a season after five years as the Patriots' defensive backs coach. He quickly became regarded as one of the game's top young coaching minds.

After the Jets traded the rights to coach Herm Edwards to the Kansas City Chiefs for a fourth-round pick in the 2006 draft, they replaced him with Mangini.

With a workmanlike and tightlipped approach, Mangini drew instant comparisons to Belichick. And they appeared warranted, especially after a quick turnaround season.

When Mangini came to the Jets, it was believed Belichick was annoyed his young assistant left him, marking the beginning of a rift. There also was talk that Belichick was angry Mangini was speaking to Patriots players and coaches about joining him in New York. That was capped by New England filing a tampering charge against the Jets in connection with New York's trade talks with wide receiver Deion Branch. The Jets were cleared of the charges and Branch ended up in Seattle.

The dispute came to a head last year when the Jets reported the Patriots illegally used videotape to steal New York's defensive signals during the season opener. Belichick was fined $500,000 and the team docked $250,000 and a draft pick.

Still, Mangini couldn't lead the Jets out of the Patriots' shadow -- even with Tom Brady sidelined for the year -- and were surpassed in the division by the Miami Dolphins.

"He did a great job for us for three years and he helped lay a great foundation," Tannenbaum said. "We felt, in our judgment, we want to build on that and go in a different direction."

**Biggin** · December 29th, 2008, 01:58 PM

haha
mangenius one year, trash the next

farve might stay now, the reports were he hated mangini, he would try and embarrass farve

**BlueWahooChambordDevil** · December 29th, 2008, 01:59 PM

mangina wasnt ready to be a HC from the get go

[censored] him and the jets

**buckeye_fan** · December 29th, 2008, 02:00 PM

I hate to hear that... I liked Mangini.
But he did choke his season and that's all it takes.

**UTVols2** · December 29th, 2008, 02:03 PM

I hope whoever does come in boots Schottenheimer as well, which they probably will but his play calling or Mangini's play calling was terrible, I have only said that like 100 times. I don't know who was responsible for it but whichever one it was, needed to go.

**Biggin** · December 29th, 2008, 02:10 PM

sportscenter showed a quote from an anon. jet, who basically threw farve under the bus

he said the jets needed to put the load on TJs shoulders, because all farve does now is [censored] up.

and i agree with the anon jets player hah

**1inStripes** · December 29th, 2008, 07:36 PM

Favre didn't like being treated like everyone else it seems like to me. Seems as though Mangini didn't coddle him like he probably had been done for far too long in GB. I repsect Mangini for that. He will be successful somewhere. Heck, he was successful with the Jets.

**Unchained** · December 29th, 2008, 08:29 PM

Lotta good all those Pro-Bowlers did 'em [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif[/img]

Betcha folks are kicking themselves for sending gang green to Hawaii

**MikMo** · December 30th, 2008, 01:38 AM

10-6 his first year...was looking for good things from him if given the chance. It's not his fault that Brett Favre screwed the season with his usual 22 interceptions.