The Walrus, The Big Show, The White Ale

I’ve already shared my basic thoughts on Mike Holmgren. I have no real idea what to expect from the man they call “The Walrus” and “The Big Show” and whose name I could not get out of my head yesterday while Tim and I discussed the Belgian white beer Hoegaarden. I believe it was wise for him and the Browns to come to the realization that the President position, and the President position only, was the best fit - no 61 year old man needs multiple high-stress, all-consuming jobs.

Holmgren’s first big decision will involve the future of Eric “Alpha Dog” Mangini. While I haven’t been in the locker room and don’t know enough about football X’s and O’s to truly evaluate Mangini’s body of work this season, I have been impressed by how he’s handled the insane amounts of criticism he’s received so far:

1. The scandal surrounding the rookie bus trip.
2. Trading down in the draft to pick Alex Mack instead of Mark Sanchez.
3. Repeated questions about second round draft picks Brian Robiskie and David Veikune repeatedly being inactive.
4. The endless QB controversy.
5. The fine for not accurately reporting Brett Favre’s injury last season.
6. The James Davis “opportunity period” injury that led to him being placed on IR and the Browns being investigated by the NFL.
7. The Braylon Edwards trade.
8. The Josh Cribbs contract debate.
9. The firing of George Kokinis.
10. The hiring process of Mike Holmgren.

That the Browns has won two straight this deep in the season after all of that may not be indicative of the team being good, but it does show that the players and, more importantly, Mangini have not given up. There’s certainly something to be said about a person who sticks to his plan amidst the heaviest of criticism - remember this guy saying Mangini was the worst coaching hire ever? - only to see that plan eventually produce some positive results.

It will be very difficult for Holmgren to fire Mangini if the Browns beat Oakland and Jacksonville. The team would then have won 5 games - 1 more than last year - and shown improvement over the course of the season.

However, I think the larger issue won’t be how many wins Mangini ends up with, it will be the answer to this question:

Is Mangini’s plan consistent with Holmgren’s?

If it’s not, then I believe Holmgren will have to fire Alpha Dog … or the entirety of next year will be a conflict-addled waste and one year of the rebuilding process will be lost.

What a lousy situation for Alpha to be in. And maybe he can adjust to Holmgren’s world view. Analysts more connected than me, like Michael Lombardi - who worked for both Bill Parcells and Bill Walsh - have said that the two systems share almost nothing, and therefore Mangini is doomed (of course, Lombardi doesn’t explain how he could work in both then).

This is all Randy Lerner’s fault, obviously, for how he handled the end of the Savage/Crennel regime and the hiring of Mangini. At that point, he had to know that a “strong, credible leader” was needed … in other words, a guy like Holmgren should’ve been hired last year or Savage/Crennel shouldn’t have been fired.

Mangini, perhaps overconfident, took the job knowing he could get power and control the entire organization because of how enamored Lerner was with him … Holmgren finds himself in a very similar situation. And I won’t be shocked if at some point down the road, Holmgren comes back down to the football field to coach the Cleveland Browns.