Hmm, mixed feelings.
As our DC he did a decent job. He had to deal with a lot of injuries, but then again so did Romeo. Starks did nothing for Mangini though. Belichick invested a lot in him, so he has a good pedigree. I think he had some growing pains this season for us. Average defensive year for us. I thought Romeo was better but then again Romeo was here far longer and had more experience.
Now as far as being a HC, the jury is out. For all I know, he could turn out to be the greatest HC of all-time. Or, he could turn out to be like Greg Williams, great at a focused part of the job like DC, and terrible when all the responsibility is on his plate.
The confusing part to me is the Jets fans utterly blind optimism on this. Not all Jets fans per say, but the majority. Heck, I'm a Pats fan and know very little about the guy. They are cracking champagne like they already won the Super Bowl. They are ecstatic over Mangini's press conference (you'd think they'd learn not to put too much stock in press conferences by now, lol.)
Here's how I see it playing out... Mangini will make positive moves, but let's be honest, he is in a division with Saban & Belichick. The Jets have serious cap & QB issues and Mangini has never been a HC, nevermind a DC for more than a season.
He's bound to experience growing pains and lessons learned, etc.. I am not too sure New York is the place you want to go through growing pains. The media and fanbase there is brutal. I imagine he will turn out to be a good coach, but the real beneficiary of it in all likelyhood will be the team after the Jets.
Keep in mind though that I have no real insight as he was a mystery to Pats fans as well. Again, he could be the 2nd coming of Lombardi for all I know.
Oh well, business is business.
DW
