TUNA GIVES MANGINI PROPS By MARK CANNIZZARO September 7, 2006 -- Quite a few miles away from Weeb Ewbank Hall, Bill Parcells yesterday was praising his former assistant and current Jets' head coach Eric Mangini while warning him, too. "He was a young, intelligent guy that was introduced to me by Bill Belichick," Parcells told Dallas writers. "I have a lot of respect for Bill's opinion. Eric helped us with the safeties when he first started in coaching, was doing a lot of quality control for us. He's a bright guy. He's ambitious. "His career has had a mercurial rise, and Bill gave him the opportunity to be a coordinator up there in New England," Parcells added. "Of course they had great success and apparently he's attractive to the Jets. They knew him. He had been there and I wish him well. "I think he's gonna be a hard-working kid, but like I told him when he got the job, this head coach (thing) isn't all it's cracked up to be. I told (Sean) Payton (now with the Saints) the same thing. There's a lot of days when you'd kind of like to be back being an assistant." http://www.nypost.com/sports/jets/tuna_gives_mangini_props_jets_mark_cannizzaro.htm
