Transcript: Eric Mangini, 11/3/09 - Tue, Nov 3 2009 at 2:51 pm
(Opening statement)- “Good morning everybody. In terms of the decision that was made yesterday, I can tell you that anytime a decision like this is made it is difficult personally and professionally. George (Kokinis) is a friend of mine and I respect him and I wish his family well. I can tell you that for a variety of reasons things didn’t work out. You never go into a situation like this with the intention of it not working out. We felt that, organizationally, this was the best decision in order to move forward. We have a strong structure in place on both the pro side and the college side and things will continue to operate effectively on a day-to-day basis. I understand that you all have a lot of questions and there is really nothing that I’m going to add to this. I hope that you can respect that. What I will talk about are the things that we’re doing as a team over the course of the week in order to improve.
“What we did this morning and last night is, as a staff last night, we went through the first and second down packages. We really analyzed the things that we did well, the things that, as part of that, that we think we can continue to improve on, whether it be scheme, technique, whatever the case may be, things that we want to remove from the various packages and some things that we want to add. The coaches put together clips to reflect that, a scouting report, sort of a Browns scouting report and adjustments. [We] presented that to the players and then we’ll go out and practice that here this afternoon.
“Today was first and second down. Tomorrow will be more of a third down emphasis, like a typical Thursday. As a coaching staff, as individual coaches and as players, we’re all looking to focus on things that we can get better at and collectively doing that so that we can move forward after the bye week and make the progress that we’re looking for.”
(On if a new General Manager will be hired this season)- “As I said, in terms of this topic, there’s nothing else that I’m going to add. What I will talk about is anything that is to do with the things that we’re doing this week and things directly related to the team that we’re working on.”
(On why he won’t talk about the General Manager situation)- “This is really, for a variety of reasons, all that I can say at this point.”
(On why he did not mention the General Manager change yesterday)- “In terms of the timetable, things like that, it’s the same thing. I’ve really said all that I can say, Jeff (Schudel).”
(On who will address the General Manager situation if he will not)- “I understand, Mary Kay (Cabot), and I appreciate the questions that you guys (the media) have. I completely appreciate that, but I hope you can also respect that I’ve added all that I can add right now. What I can talk about are the things that we’re doing here today.”
(On what having two dismissals in the past week says about the stability of the organization)- “We’ve had one situation where that was the case. What I can say is that I feel like we have a very strong structure in place on the personnel side and I’m confident that day-to-day we’ll be able to execute the things that we need to execute.”
(On if Bernie Kosar will fill some on Kokinis’ responsibilities)- “Mary Kay (Cabot), I understand the question, but really, this is all that I can say. I hope you can understand that as well.”
(On if there are legal reasons why he can’t talk about Kokinis)- “There’s really a variety of reasons, Tony (Grossi), and I’ll just leave it at that.”
(On if Randy Lerner plans to address the situation)- “I think that you have to talk to Neal (Gulkis) about that. I can just tell you what I’m addressing.”
(On if he understands why fans want to know what is going on within the organization)- “I completely understand the questions and I respect that. I can just tell you the things that I can address and it’s for a variety of reasons. I hope that you can understand that as well.”
(On how he keeps this from becoming a distraction to the players)- “In talking to the team, the important thing that I’ve stressed, whether it be today or yesterday or at any point, is the important thing for us is to be able to focus individually first on what we can improve, and then collectively what we can improve. Those things are the important things that we need to do. We need to get that done this week and that’s what we’re focused on, all of us are focused on. I spent a lot of time with the coaching staff yesterday, this morning and trying to really work through the different things that we think need to be addressed short term, need to be addressed long term. We’ll meet more on personnel, in terms of player performances and evaluation and things like that on Thursday, but that’s also a component of this. [I have] historically made a lot of strides during the bye week. It is a unique time where you can put some more emphasis on individual technique, can sit down with the players one-on-one and either address their performance, address their concerns, address what they’re hoping to achieve over the course of the rest of the season. I look forward to those meetings. We have, like I said, point of attack tapes made on each guy, whether it be actual game tapes or whether it be practice tapes, where they can look at that individually to help them get a better feel for what they’ve done or with their position coach, with the coordinator, with myself, where we can go really share some time and I can give them my perspective on things. Just from my experience over the last three years, those meetings have been very valuable.”
(On if he has made any further conclusions about possible changes)- “No, Tony (Grossi), what we’re going to do is, like I said, we’re looking at it from a scheme perspective and also from a personnel perspective. We will spend some more time as a coaching staff going through, player-by-player, areas where we think either that player can improve, how we can help him improve, some of the points of emphasis that we need to really work on with them. Whether it be during the individual periods, however we’re going to get that in place and really formulate a plan for each guy and also look at the ways that we can develop them into bigger roles or into different roles that we think can help us.”
(On if Brett Ratliff will get more reps)- “Over these practices and things like that, we’ll try to work all three guys to some degree. What we do still do, Tony (Grossi), is the opportunity periods. That’s often a time for the third quarterback, in this case Brett, to get some of those reps that he may not get during the course of a normal practice. It’s our stuff. It’s our packages. It’s obviously our players.”
(On if Ratliff is a candidate to start after the bye week)- “No.”
(On what he thinks the image of the Browns is around the league)- “You’d have to ask people around the league. I know that the things that we’re doing, the way that they players are working, the way that they coaches are working, the way that the organization is working, is all based on one end goal and that is to win, first and foremost, but also to improve at every level at all times. That’s not going to change. I’ve been part of this process before. I’ve been part of it with different head coaches. I’ve been part of it as a head coach myself and there’s not one specific pattern that it follows. It does take time. It does take a lot of hard work. It does take deliberate practice. That is consistent with every place that I’ve been, every experience I’ve had.”
(On if this is harder than he thought it was going to be when he took the job)- “I didn’t look at it in terms of how hard it would be. I looked at it in terms of how important the process was and understanding that each place is going to have different challenges that are unique to that organization, that are unique to that group of players, that are unique to that coaching staff. There isn’t a set pattern. Even when I was in my third year in New York, there are things that come up every day that aren’t on the agenda. They aren’t on the schedule, there’s no blue print for how to deal with those things, but it is stuff that you have to look at, you have to try to make good decisions on and you have to move forward. Each year’s been radically different. Each group of guys has been radically different, but the consistent thing is the way that you have to approach it. There’s no substitute for hard work. There’s no substitute for constantly analyzing ways to improve and being committed to doing that. There just isn’t. It was true with my experience in New England with Bill (Belichick). It was true with my experience in New York with Bill Parcells. It was true with my experience as a head coach with the Jets. There’s no substitute for that. It may be a cliché, but it’s a cliché for a reason, because that’s the truth.”
(On his thoughts on final personnel decisions being given to someone else in the future)- “My goal is to win and my goal is to improve. There’s never opposition to someone that can help us achieve that goal. That’s true here. It was true in New York with the Jets. I remember my early experiences with Bill (Belichick) as a young guy. Bill would always listen to anybody’s opinion and anybody’s ideas, as long as there was a rational to it, as long as it was well thought out. [He] was open to it and was willing to introduce those things or try those things. I really respected that and learned a lot from him from that perspective. It was the same thing with Bill Parcells. You appreciate the feedback. You appreciate the honesty. You appreciate people trying to constantly improve at what they’re doing or constantly help the group improve. You want to hire as many people as you possibly can like that. You want as many players around like that, just individuals that are intrinsically motivated to be the best at their craft and to make sure that the organization is as positive and as productive as possible. Every mentor that I’ve had has had that approach, regardless of how much success they’ve had and that’s probably why they’ve had the success that they have had.”
(On if this was an organizational decision he signed off on)- “Really it’s what I said, it’s an organizational decision that we felt gave us the best chance to move forward. There’s really nothing else I can add.”
(On if it was a difficult decision)- “You never go into any situation with the intention of it not working out and that was true in this case. The organization felt this gave us the best chance to move forward.”
(On how many of the players he brought in this season he thinks have the potential to be franchise impact players)- “I think that everybody who’s here right now is contributing to the things that were doing now and hopefully the things that we’re building towards in the future. Everybody contributes to that process. I feel comfortable with the guys that we’ve brought in and their contributions, their approach, their work ethic, things like that. It’s all part of what you continue to grow.”
