I loved this article. Players lauding Mangini's method Saturday, July 28, 2007 BY DAVE HUTCHINSON HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- The Kool-Aid is going down a little more smoothly in year two of the Eric Mangini Era, but it can still taste a little bitter on occasion. The practices are endless and relentless. Players had better know their assignment, or Mangini will find someone who does. There are no warm and fuzzy player-coach relationships. Every position, except quarterback, is fair game. The only satisfactory results are victories. None of that is any different from last summer, when some Jets bristled at the start of training camp when faced with then-35-year-old Mangini and his tough-love approach -- a byproduct of learning at the side of Bill Belichick for 10 seasons, and a far cry from the low-strain practices and player-friendly tactics of former coach Herman Edwards. Of course, it helped Mangini's cause that the Jets, projected by some to finish in the AFC East cellar, went 10-6 and earned a playoff berth. "I think everybody always understood out of the gate that (Mangini) knew what he was doing," wide receiver Laveranues Coles said yesterday in between a two-a-day session to start training camp under the piercing sun at Hofstra University. "...From the time he walked through the door and broke things down for us on film and talked to us, you pretty much knew he was a genius when it comes to understanding the X's and O's. "Never at any point did guys doubt his knowledge of the game. I think some of his methods in terms of getting it across may have been questioned. ... Whenever you're in one system and things change, you don't understand why. But as time goes on and it's proven to work, you understand why he did it and you can see why he put us through the things he put us through." Now, Mangini must prove he can keep the Jets a playoff contender. The buzz surrounding the Jets is totally different from last summer, when Mangini was an unknown commodity, quarterback Chad Pennington was coming off his second rotator cuff surgery and Curtis Martin couldn't run. Mangini is trying to shield his team from those expectations. Newspapers are all but banned from the locker room, and Mangini doesn't use clippings to motivate his team. The only articles on the locker room bulletin board are about players getting in trouble and how to avoid those situations. Players know about the lofty expectations -- but only because the media and friends have told them. "For us, we really tried to tune (the expectations) out," inside linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "We went through the off-season as if we were the underdogs, as if we had something to prove. And we're taking that approach right now." Said Pennington: "We believe that the previous season doesn't have any bearing on the next season. You can't bank on what you did last season happening again. You have to start all over from scratch." Mangini isn't resting on his laurels, either. He brought in boxing trainer Teddy Atlas to improve his team's hand placement and hand speed. The off-season program was demanding. He took the team to an "off-site, team-building exercise that incorporates the military" on the final day of minicamp last month. "I think each day, each week, each year, we're learning more and more about Coach Mangini," Pennington said. "...But at the same time, he's doing a very good job of making sure he's getting better as a coach, introducing new ideas and new concepts ... to push us to get better." Added Vilma: "He's consistent. That's the biggest thing about (Mangini). Whether we win or lose, he takes the same approach and he expects us to. You're going to have ups and downs (in the season) and you don't want to see your coach going up and down. He's going to be consistent, a mainstay. We feed off that." And even though Mangini doesn't give fire-and-brimstone speeches, he nonetheless gets his team ready to practice and play. "He tells the truth," defensive end Shaun Ellis said. "You can get motivated by someone telling you the absolute truth about you and the team. If it's good, it's good. If it's bad, it's bad. You just have to rally around it. He gives all the information to us, and you either learn it or you're not here."
Sick article...just reading it gets me pumped for what these guys are going to do this year. Without being naive, the JETS are going to be a very tough team to beat this year. Jonathan Vilma and David Harris were seen carrying a tacking dummy into their room that had a Lawrence Marony jersey on it. They play power hour by tacking it in the dorm room every minute.
I am getting really excited about the season as well. I am happy to hear even Coles saying that he at least sees the method to Mangini's madness.
I LOVE this attitude. To be a great team, you have to have everyone buy into the system and the team culture. I love what i'm seeing and I'm Pysched for september.
Awesome article. I also think its a good sign that Coles has nothing negative to say and the coach recoginizing he needs to improve. . When's the last time they met or exceeded our expectations? Jet teams usually suprise or dissapoint us, we never build on a good season, we either lose players to free agency, off season moves, injuries and on the field personnel decisions ( see Herm). If the front office, coaching staff and players all execute like they did this year and injuries are held in check, we could grab the division.
Holy shit – I think that might be the first quote from Coles I have seen where there wasn’t an underlying whining about something…incredible.
True, but if you saw the picture of him standing with the other receivers that was posted by someone the other day, it's clear he's still annoyed. He's a warrior though so he's allowed.
