by Bruce Bostwick

Created on: September 06, 2010

This upcoming season for the Browns could be a very critical one for Eric Mangini. He is on the clock and there must be progress made in order to really go far. This could very well be his last season. For some people, it would be rejoicing if he were fired but then the scary part would become who replaces him? Given that Cleveland sports has been on a trend of having coaches or managers in baseball with losing records, it does make you wonder if they can find someone even worse.

The reason for that has to do with the addition of Mike Holmgren to the Cleveland Browns. Given that he is respected, he is one that is going to be watching over everyone seeing that the job is done. While he will not necessarily be involved in making all the coaching decisions, he will be there in case they need him. If things are not going well, he could find someone else to run the team. Given that Holmgren is the President, it would be ill-advised to try to be the coach as well because that would be many hats on one person putting more pressure than there needs to be.

There are those in the media that cannot stand him and think he is terrible. He did take over a terrible Browns team anyway so it’s not it matters anyway. He has only been the coach for one season with Cleveland and had been the coach of the Jets where there were two winning seasons. Strangely enough, he has had a winning on the odd years of being a head coach. The pressure could be from that view as well. Given that as a possibility, it would not be something to put past anyone whatsoever.

If the season goes where the record is identical, it may lead to his departure. The only way he has a chance at survival would have to be if the Browns go 7-9 or better. The games also have to be close and competitive as well. When it comes to that, improvement is a must. They must do better than last season. The Browns have to start out of the gate strong because if they don’t, it’s going to be another typical Browns season.

Eric Mangini is probably feeling the heat and knows that it exists. The only question is going to be whether he can answer to the pressure or will he fold just like that. It comes down to how the team performs. Changing the coach constantly doesn’t work and it hasn’t done so recently with any team. Only time will tell if he will still be the next coach.

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