Eric Mangini fired as Cleveland Browns head coach
While Eric Mangini was packing boxes with pictures and everything else in his office, Mike Holmgren, president of the Cleveland Browns, was already looking for a new head coach.
Following another losing season, the search for Mangini’s replacement is underway. Holmgren wants a coach that can eventually lead them to the championship and according to him, that's his goal.
But who does Holmgren want as the new head coach? Well, sources say that Jim Harbaugh, Brad Childress, John Fox, Marty Mornhinweg and Jon Gruden are on the list.
Another name could also be added to the list; Holmgren’s own.
Two years after being hired by Randy Lerner, owner of the Browns, the head coach was fired. This is the second year that the Browns have been 5-11 and although they showed improvement under Mangini, it wasn’t enough to save his job.
Hours after losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers 41-9 at home, Mangini was thanked for his efforts and told that his time was up.
"It's difficult," Holmgren said. "I've never had to do this before. I like the man a lot. But I want to win here. We want to win here. We did not win enough."
The Browns released a statement announcing the change in coaching at around 10:00 a.m. Monday. By 11:00 a.m., Holmgren sent forms to NFL teams to request permission to meet with their coaches, but did not give the names of candidates.
Just a few weeks ago, Holmgren gave indications that he might come back to coaching the Browns. The 62 year old had three Super Bowl entries in his 17 years of coaching. Although he insists that he loves playing the executive role, he hasn’t ruled out coming
back to coach.
"I'll always be a coach. Heck, people in the building call me coach. To tell you right now that I would never coach again, whether it's here or any place, that probably wouldn't be honest. As of right now, I am the president of the Cleveland Browns and my
job is to find the best coach available, the right coach for this job. That's what I am trying to do and that does not include me right now.", added Holmgren.
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