Mangini-Mangenuis-Manidiot

Once heralded as a breath of fresh air from the erratic play calling and time management issues that defined the Herman Edwards’s era, the New York Jets announced their new head coach on 1/17/06.

After a dismal 2005 season of finishing 4-12, the Jets hoped that Mangini (the youngest head coach in NFL history), would bring a refreshing change, a reversal of fortunes, and end the team’s Super Bowl drought.

Mangini guided the Jets to a 10-6 record in his first season, finishing 2^nd in the AFC East, and eventually losing in the first round of the playoffs to the New England Patriots. The competitiveness of the team that first year prompted sports talk radio host Max Kellerman to labeled Mangini as Mangenuis.

In 2007, it seemed as if the wheels had fallen off the cart. The Jets matched the record of Herman Edwards’s last season, another putrid 4-12. They say that winning cures all ills, and with this losing record, Mangini’s stoic demeanor became a hot topic of discussion.

In 2008, the Jets responded to their fans to put a better product on the field. They spent 140 million dollars, acquired Brett Farve, and let go of a fan favorite, quarterback Chad Pennington. At first it appeared that the money was well spent as the Jets were 8-3 through the first 11 games of the season.

Jets fans were beside themselves with the team’s early success, and there was talk of the team finally making it to the Super Bowl. But all that wishful thinking was short-lived as the Jets went on to lose the next two out of three games. It was evident that this was not the same team, and it further exposed the fact that the coaching staff had no viable plans for correcting the deficiencies to return the team to its earlier success.

Next was the debacle that exposed Mangini’s lack of confidence in his team when they played the Seattle Seahawks and only managed to score a field goal. On the first drive, the Jets offense was fluid but Mangini perhaps not having confidence in his team, elected to kick a field goal as opposed to going for it on fourth down; although they were only short about a half-a-yard.

Fans were further infuriated that they were assessed a delay of game penalty that move them out of field goal range, and Mangini elected to send the punting team out, when clearly Jay Feeley felt he could make the 50 yard attempt.

What led to Mangini being labeled as buffoon by sports talk radio show host Joe Benigno was in the fourth quarter from the Jets 20, when Mangini elected to go for it, although they were up against the 2 minute warning and had three time outs left. This erratic play calling reminiscence of the Herman Edwards’s era further exposed the ineptness of the coaching staff, and the fact that they entered the game without a viable plan to win.

 Worst was Mangini trying to explain how he and his coaching staff knew that the game between the Jets and the 3-11 Seattle Seahawks was going to be tight, and how the game plan was sound although all they could muster was three points.

The prodigal son (Chad Pennigton) returns to the Meadowlands and leads last year’s 1-15 Miami Dolphins in capturing the AFC East title.

Kairos is an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment, but in the case of Eric Mangini it has come to mean nothing but another year of heartache for Jets fans. The mental and physical errors on both sides of the ball only illustrate what fans have suspected for a long time. Mangini’s stoic demeanor has rubbed off on his team, and the mental and physical mistakes they make in big spots further corroborates the fact that they have lost confidence in the coaching staff’s ability to arm them with a game plan that they can execute successfully.

New Yorkers have to contend with yet another collapse. The Jets should take a page from the Mets playbook and get rid of Mangini now or the calls for his dismissal will be a distraction if the team gets off to a slow start next season.

A man who couldn’t get his team to play with more passion, in the two most important games needed to salvage their season, isn’t worth being labeled a genius . . .  that title clearly belongs to his mentor . . . Bill Belichick.

Bradley Booth/Freelance Commercial Writer/Author