The truth about Mangini is that he now has the tools. But its more than that. He learned this year that it isn't just about tools, and employing them. There's something else. I firmly believe that he has learned this year - and that's a story that is significant. Remember the mutiny Coughlin endured? And he changed? This is similar. I attribute it actually to Brett Favre. I think Favre has affected Mangini, his outlook, and the way he coaches, schemes and manages players, etc. When you look at the big picture, I think this is so. Favre will be one of those guys that Mangini will always talk about. Just like Eric always talks about Marchibroda, and Parcells, and the Patriots System. Favre is one of those constants now. Eric even named his son Brett. We will look back and say Brett Favre helped, changed Eric Mangini's career. He got him to bend. He took control of the locker room in a proactive way that both stole the show from Eric's almost draconian methods, mocked it, but funny, also, supported it and Eric. I think Eric realized something somewhere in there. It's not just about the system. He learned that over the past two years. The system is unsustainable for the long run without adequate tools. And it isn't just about tools. They help, but if it doesn't all come together in the course of a game, and in the win column, those tools can all easily start playing for the paycheck; it can easily fall apart. There's no organizational purpose. Over the short run, these two can get you somewhere. Not the epitome, but somewhere. What I think Mangini realized with the help of Brett Favre is that it's about the game of football. Not operations research. There's no such thing as a Football Factory to apply Statistical Control Techniques to. The truth is revealed on a Coach over a multi-year period with a team: Can they establish a culture of winning? Can they achieve it operationally - in the standings? Can they get to a point of sustained success? Can they pull out diverse types of victories under differing circumstances? Is there refinement of the players to the system, and the system to the players? Is the art of capturing momentum grasped? The growth of a Football Team over a multi-year period is organic, as is its growth over the course of the year, as it tries at its task of capturing momentum, just like it is in-game. And to have a career in this league, you have to learn to let go of the system and the tools. The system inhibits growth. The tools are just vehicles for it. Together you get it. After the meeting with Mangini, Favre has started "managing the game". And that's when momentum started to take off for us. That's when the system began being tailored around Brett's proclivities, and when Brett put the tools into the system, rather than work them outside the parameters of the system. Before, either one of them was an excuse for why we could lose a game, why we could be just mediocre. Mangini got a guy like Favre to buy-in. Favre got Mangini to bend. Everyone gave up something. The two big egos: Mangini and Favre. Everyone is buying-in now. The stakes are raised. The chips are in the jackpot. Our hand is being called. We have a lot to find out about, and soon. A matter of weeks. At most, two months and two days from now.
