CLEVELAND (AP) – Browns coach Eric Mangini and wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi met in the hallway outside Cleveland’s locker room and shared a big hug.
It was from the heart.
It was also probably goodbye.
Mangini, who went 10-22 in two seasons with Cleveland, will meet Monday morning with team president Mike Holmgrem to discuss his future with the Browns. Nothing is known for sure, but all signs point toward Holmgren making a coaching change.
Mangini’s second season ended with a 41-9 beating by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who scored on their first offensive play and demolished an overmatched Cleveland team that showed some progress this season but faltered down the stretch and lost its final four games.
In the locker room afterward, a somber Mangini thanked his players for their effort.
“It’s a really disappointing way to end the season,” Mangini said. “There are not many positives to talk about.”
The same could be said of Cleveland’s uneven season. Although there were some statistical improvements, the Browns failed to build on any momentum created by upsets of New Orleans and New England, staggering to a 2-6 finish after shocking the Patriots on Nov. 7.
Cleveland was much more competitive this season than last. The Browns had 12 games decided by 10 points or less, but they went just 3-9 in those. And, in a bottom-line business where record means everything, the bottom line isn’t good for Mangini.
Still, a few of Cleveland’s players offered their support to Mangini.
“I feel like one man can only do so much,” said wide receiver Joshua Cribbs. “This is the biggest team sport there is. You’re asking one man in two years to turn around a football team that hasn’t been winning. It takes some time.
“We want to win now. We’re trying to win now. But it’s just impossible to put all the weight and give one guy all that responsibility and call him the fall guy for the way we’ve been playing. We have to own up to some things that we do and take responsibility. Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in. It’s all on the coach. It’s always all on the coach.”
Mangini believes he has the Browns headed in the right direction, and feels with more time he could make them consistent winners.
Holmgren may not give him the chance.
“I think the team has done a lot of good things this season,” said Mangini, who has two years remaining on his contract. “It’s difficult to feel any of those positives right now in the wake of what has happened. It’s difficult to really take a step back and look at that.”
If Mangini is fired, Holmgren could hire someone or appoint himself as coach.
The 62-year-old, who won a Super Bowl title with Green Bay and guided Seattle to its only title game appearance, has left open the possibility of a return to the sideline. He was hired in December 2009 by owner Randy Lerner to restore Cleveland’s franchise, but Holmgren has admitted it has been tough to watch games from the press box.
Until this past year, coaching is all Holmgren has known for nearly 40 years. He may be ready to get back into the game.
Holmgren went 161-111 in 17 seasons as an NFL head coach, making the playoffs 12 times and winning eight division titles.
Cleveland’s season was undermined by key injuries, including high ankle sprains to all three quarterbacks. Rookie QB Colt McCoy was not expected to play but was forced into the starting lineup and handled himself well against a tough schedule.
McCoy, who went 2-6 as a starter, also said it’s not all Mangini’s fault.
“The coaches can’t win games for you,” he said. “It’s who you have, the 11 guys that step out on the field and play execute. We’ve got to do a better job. It’s on us.”
McCoy isn’t certain about what will happen next, but he’s comforted that Holmgren is in charge.
“I don’t know that the future holds, but I know coach Holmgren is our president and I know he’s going to make the right decisions to figure out how this organization came become a winner.”
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