Jets Fire Head Coach Eric Mangini

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The N.Y. Jets fired head coach Eric Mangini today. Woody Johnson, the team’s owner and CEO, and Mike Tannenbaum, executive VP/GM, made the announcement at a news conference this morning at the Jets Training Center in Florham Park, N.J. According to Mr. Johnson:

“This is about the most difficult thing you can do as franchise owner, and that’s making a change at head coach. Eric’s been our coach for three years. He’s done some amazing things. Nobody’s worked harder. He knows his X’s and O’s. He’s a good teacher. But Mike and I felt it was time to make a change. It’s not a decision we reached yesterday or 10 minutes ago. This was a decision running through the season.”

Considering coach Mangini’s two winning seasons in New York, it’s hard to imagine why he wasn’t given at least another year to get the Jets to the Super Bowl. He’s a good football coach. But when you look at the way the team tanked after an impressive 8-3 start this season, I understand the desire for change. It was an extremely disappointing 9-7 finish for a team that appeared to be meshing all its impressive offseason acquisitions in wins over then-unbeaten Tennessee and division rival New England. But a tired looking Brett Favre at quarterback and poor play overall down the stretch proved to be the demise of the team’s playoff hopes and coach Mangini’s tenure in New York. The Jets will begin an immediate search for a new head coach.

Source: NewYorkJets.com, Photo: Newscom