I propose an open letter to Eric Mangini from the anyone on this board who wishes to participates. I have too much to say, and no enough time to say it all on my own. Kindly add your own thoughts. ____________________________________________________________ Dear Coach Mangini: It's October 22, 2007. I waited eight months for the start of the 2007 NFL season. I followed all available Jets news. I invested in this 2007 team, financially and emotionally. But, it's October 22nd - seven weeks into the season - and the Jets are done. I'll get no return on my investment this season. It is all but mathematically impossible for the Jets to make the playoffs; recent games give only brief moments of excitement, and are otherwise disturbing to watch; your press conferences are tiresome cliche festivals; you've set this team up for failure by installing square peg personnel into a round hold defensive system; and, you continue forward with a terribly flawed quarterback. Tell me what I should be hopeful about entering week eight. [your installment here]
The only thing that I ask from the Jests, is that they (along with the Bills) do their part to keep the Miami Dolphins winless. Hoping that franchise endures an 0-16 schedule!!
Eric, I suggest that you stop carrying yourself like a 4-time superbowl winning coach and show some emotion. Tell the fans you are sick to your stomach at the performances your team has given - and that EVERYONE, IINCLUDING yourself is responsible. Tell us that you will not rest until the Jets turn this season around, even if only for some momentum going into next year. Get off your damn high horse, and be willing to CHANGE some of YOUR WAYS for the betterment of the team. Stop being so damn steadfast, and stop INSULTING us with your ambiguous press confreneces since you have done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in the NFL to this point beyond holding Bill Bellicheck's jock.
Dude watch his effin press conference...everything you said he isn't doing, he did last night. Watch the press conference, you will be impressed.
I had high expectations coming into this season, with Chad coming off a completely rehab-free offseason, with the Jets having had a running game last year and having no sure running back, I thought the addition of Thomas Jones would really help our running game and in turn help Pennington even more. Well, I am very disappointed so far. You did not do enough to fix our defense. You traded up twice when there were more than just two holes to fill. You and your assistants have had a boring, uninspiring play calling system this year, and have been very conservative. I feel like watching this team play is watching a train wreck you know is going to happen in slow motion...first you see the axel pop off the wheel, then one set of wheels start to wiggle, and finally the whole train veers off the tracks in a sudden movement. If you want to fix this, please, be my guest, but I'm sick of it and the problem needs to be solved now.
I'd be impressed if he had a ceremonial platform set up and committed ritual Hara-kiri with a dull knife. Anything short of that is just more of the same old Jets at this point.
Dear Eric, Sundayjack may have invested his time and emotions, but I invested $250 in the Sunday Ticket. In lieu of $250, please rip off 9 wins. Yours truly, Mickey
The problem with being a technically oriented coach who motivates via hard work and preparation is that if your techniques are leading to losses and the hard work is not getting the job done then you're basically cooked. He could show them Rocky this week (and probably should) but it wouldn't likely cause them to play any better next week. Getting better players and schemes would lead to wins, but that is an offseason process, not an in-season one. What's Mangini going to say in his presser next week if the Jets lose? It's coming perilously close to the point where he'll have to say he does not deserve to come back unless he can create some positive value in the equation. I don't think he'll do that, but it'll be in the minds of every reporter covering the Jets the rest of the way: "what exactly is Mangini contributing to the Jets at this point?"
Eric, at every level you've gone through with every organization in the NFL, you've always been involved with winners. I know that you know what it takes to win, and you've done a great job with that. But what you seem to have a problem with is understanding what it takes to keep from losing. Winning is when you put together the right players in the right schemes with the right coaches and you don't change what you did to get you there. That part, you have down to a science. We saw that last season; if you had a setback, you went back to work with the same players and the same plays and the perseverance payed off. That was doing what it took to win. But to do what it takes to keep from losing, you have to have the balls to make changes. And I don't just mean when its too late. This train wreck was derailed weeks ago. And you've approached the losing with the same winning approach that you used successfully in the past. Its not working. And it has taken an absolute destruction of your belief in the way you do things for you to understand that change is inevitable. That is the point where your beliefs end and where greatness begins. You are a good coach. You understand what it takes to win. But the great coaches have the balls to make changes that may go against their every principle. You've had your first taste of real losing, and are feeling the total desperation that comes with the territory. Next time, next chance, next season...the ball is in your court. Either you will understand that you have to do things in this job that you think are wrong to achieve the right results, or you will keep doing the same thing and standing by your ideas and principles all the way to the unemployment line.
I'd like to make a suggestion Eric. It's ok to try something and fail. Most intelligent people respect someone who gives their all but things just don't work out. However, when you fail admit your mistakes and try something else to fix the problem. Don't just keep trying to hammer the same square peg in the round hole. At a press conference say, "What we tried to do this season isn't working. so we're now going to change personel around week to week. We're going to change some schemes around. We're going to try some unique plays. We're going to put it out there and roll the dice to see what we really have going foward. I have to be honest with you, the media and the fan base. This season is no longer about this season. It's about the future. And I'm going to do everything I can to find out which players fit into our future and in what scheme. It's going to be ugly at times but there's no better way to evaluate talent than in real games. The future of the club is more important than one bad season and you have my word, this team will continue to fight and stay original to get to our ultimate goal of a world championship." Say and do that Eric and I can garauntee you will have the full support of everyone.
I was trying to remember what the long running TGG joke was ? Applebee?s, Bennigan?s or Chili?s? I think it may have been Bennigan?s
Dear Eric, Maybe you should have stuck around under Bill Belichick for a couple more years and learn how to build a team for long term success. Baron