November 17, 2006 Mangini?s Chilly Reputation Thaws By KAREN CROUSE HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., Nov. 16 ? By the time Eric Mangini reached the visitors? locker room Sunday, he had been unmasked. Gone was the no-nonsense expression that he wears like a pair of nonprescription glasses, to project an air of authority. Mangini, the Jets? first-year coach, waddled into the room as if imitating the walk of a penguin, and did a little dance that could have been choreographed by the animators of ?Happy Feet.? His players, who started calling Mangini the Penguin behind his back during training camp, howled their approval. A few noticed that as Mangini addressed the team after its 17-14 upset of the New England Patriots, his face was red, almost as if he were flushed with success, and that he appeared close to tears . He stopped praising his players long enough to say, ?I?m trying to stop from blushing.? Six days of the week, Mangini practices impassivity, the better to prevent his players? emotions from seesawing, but on game days, his passion for the game and his regard for those who play it at its highest level is there for all to see. ?He?s a very emotional guy,? running back Kevan Barlow said Thursday. ?And I think he really cares about his guys.? Barlow had been a Jet less than 24 hours when he saw Mangini?s caring side. He was traded by San Francisco late in training camp, and on his way out, an emotional Barlow said some disparaging things about the 49ers? coach, Mike Nolan. The 27-year-old Barlow had already developed a reputation for talking, so everyone was curious to see how he would fit in with Mangini. Barlow?s first meeting with his new coach ended with a hug. Barlow has been firmly in Mangini?s corner ever since. ?I guess I just picked up on his energy,? said Barlow, who called Mangini the best coach he has had in his six seasons in the N.F.L. Woody Johnson, the Jets? owner, pointed to Barlow?s quick conversion as his clearest sign that Mangini was building a coalition in the locker room. ?Kevan Barlow came in and was a bit unhappy, and now he?s turned around and has become a zealot,? Johnson said Wednesday. Johnson attends most of the Jets? practices, and from what he can see, Mangini has won over the players by treating everybody the same. ?I remember in training camp watching the center and Pennington fumble a snap,? Johnson said, referring to quarterback Chad Pennington, ?and then Pennington running a lap.? He added: ?That?s when I knew Eric was building a true team mentality. He holds everybody accountable and treats everybody the same.? Erik Coleman, the third-year safety, had started every game in his N.F.L. career until Mangini came along. After being slowed by an appendectomy in training camp, Coleman was benched by Mangini in Week 3 after performing miserably in the Jets? first regular-season meeting with New England. He played three games as a reserve before regaining his starting position. The demotion, Coleman said, ?was initially hard to deal with.? Coleman might not have agreed with Mangini?s decision at the time, but he has come to respect it. ?He?s doing it to make me a better player,? Coleman said, ?but he?s ultimately doing it to make the team better.? Mangini kept assuring Coleman that once he was able to lose himself in the game, the tackles and tipped balls would start coming. And that is what happened, with Coleman contributing eight tackles and an interception Sunday. ?Your first impression of Coach is that he?s quiet,? Coleman said. ?Once you get talking to Coach, he?s funny. He?s a good guy.? Mangini did not play in the N.F.L., like Herm Edwards, the Jets? previous head coach, did. At 35, Mangini is too young to be the father figure that Edwards was to many players. But Mangini empowers them with his attention to detail. ?I can tell guys are starting to buy into what he?s doing,? Barlow said. ?Not that they weren?t before, but guys are starting to realize what he?s saying is paying off.? After accepting the limpest of handshakes from his mentor, Patriots Coach Bill Belichick, Mangini walked off the field at Gillette Stadium on Sunday with his arms around defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson, a mountain of a man whose reticence makes him hard to get close to. When Mangini took the Jets? job, he was given mixed reviews about Robertson, whom the Jets took in the first round in 2003. The first time they met, Mangini sat him down and told him what was expected of him. Robertson, Mangini said, has done everything asked of him and more. He is, at 317 pounds, Mangini?s biggest convert. But hardly the only one.
That is a very good article. I like that Mangini seems to lead the team, unlike what some others think.
Every day Mangini is making Woody Johnson look smarter and smarter... he made his rookie mistake with Herm, and now it appears the ship is finally headed in the right direction!
That sound you just heard was Buttle's head exploding upon reading Barlow's comments about the hated Mangini.
The problem is the media had nothing to write about in the pre-season because nobody was talking. so, they made up things about the players hating him and Eric being cold... They wanted to vilify him and make him seem like a badly cloned BB. And now it has blown up in their face, so they need to back peddle. Look at the mangini quote in my sig, and you can tell he is NOTHING like BB. He was asked what it will be like going into Foxboro for the Jets-Pats game.
The media has seemed to take the exact opposite direction on Mangini than was thought. The NY press treats Mangini a lot better than the Boston media treats Belichick. I guess they didn't think Mangini would have the sarcastic sense of humor he's shown, and that he wouldn't be an asshole to them.
really good article, i like that his sense of humor finally coming out. that penguin thing is hilarious.
