Romeo Redux

A surprise to no one, the AP is reporting that Randy Lerner has scheduled an interview with fired Jets coach Eric Mangini.

When I first heard he'd been let go yesterday and that he was a candidate to be our new head coach, I about banged my head against my keyboard. Did we not learn ANYTHING?

Let's think about this here:

Before becoming head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Romeo Crennel served as defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick. After Crennel's departure from New England, the Patriot defense continues to do just fine without him.

Crennel comes to Cleveland and can be described as bland and emotionless with awful game management skills and no feel for his team. So, he's fired after five seasons.

That's about how the story goes, right? Now, let's compare that to Eric Mangini.

Prior to his head coaching job with the Jets, Eric Mangini served as defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick. After Mangini's departure from New England, the Patriot defense continues to do just fine without him.

Now, how do you suppose Mangini the head coach was described in New York? Well, here's an excerpt from an article in the NY Daily News:

"Eric Mangini was bad for business with his bland personality, his emotionless sideline demeanor and his awful game management skills ... Mangini had no feel for his team. He had to go."

Sound familiar?

The success of the New England defense has more to do with head coach Bill Belichick than it does with the defensive coordinator, no matter who it is. Two Belichick defensive coordinators -- Crennel and Mangini -- were hired away as head coaches and failed. Both have been fired. Both have been described as making awful game decisions and having no feel for their teams.

Here's my point: Randy Lerner hiring Eric Mangini to be the head coach of the Cleveland Browns would be a huge mistake. He fired Romeo Crennel yesterday. Why hire him back in the form of Eric Mangini?