He was a Man-genius five weeks ago.
On Monday, to play off the New York Post's brilliant nickname, he became Canned-gini.
I'm not going to say Eric Mangini's firing as New York Jets head coach was shocking. That's an adjective better used to describe such wonders as Wade Phillips still having a job and Detroit promoting two front-office executives after an 0-16 season. Nonetheless, Mangini had posted a winning record in two of his three seasons and received a vote of confidence for 2009 as recently as March from team owner Woody Johnson.
The tap-dancing Johnson wouldn't specifically say why he reneged on his word during a Monday morning news conference. He instead used clichés like, "It's a judgment call," and, "We had to go in a different direction. There's nothing specific."
Come on. The cause couldn't be any clearer: New York (9-7) didn't make the playoffs after losing four of its final five games, including Sunday's 24-17 home clunker against new AFC East champion Miami.
Here's where the debate gets interesting. Why did the Jets nosedive and is Mangini, like coaches often are under such circumstances, being made a scapegoat for the failures of others?
