Two teams a study in contrast

By Paul Woody

Published: January 9, 2009

-- Boston College got it right.

The Cleveland Browns got it wrong.

Jeff Jagodzinski had a very good job as Boston College's football coach. He produced, getting his team to consecutive ACC championship games.

Boston College took a chance on him in 2007, hiring a man who never had been a head coach and giving him a five-year contract. The gamble was working out well for both sides.

The Eagles wanted Jagodzinski to remain as their coach. In fact, they insisted upon it.

When the New York Jets came calling, Boston College told Jagodzinski not to answer and that he would be fired if he did.

Jagodzinski interviewed with the Jets. Boston College fired him. The Eagles play hardball as well as football.

You can view the BC administration's stance as harsh. Certainly it was unforgiving.

But unlike most people in the workforce, Jagodzinski was not a free agent. He had three years remaining on his contract.

Jagodzinski got what he deserved. For once, a college dealt with a coach the way coaches often deal with athletes.

Coaches preach "My way or the highway" and don't hesitate to put players on the next bus out of town.

Meanwhile, coaches expect to be allowed to flit from one interview to another, always citing "the best interest of my family" as the reason for doing so. The real reason is ambition.

The school and players are left to wonder whether the coach will stay. Opposing coaches use the situation as a weapon in recruiting.

The Boston College administration wants stability. That is in everyone's best interest.

Hiring Eric Mangini to be the coach of the Browns was in the best interest of Mangini, but not anyone else.

Mangini spent three seasons as the Jets' coach. He was fired after compiling a 23-25 record.

Mangini told Jets owner Woody Johnson that millions needed to be spent on free agents for the 2008 season.

Mangini thought the team would be better with Brett Favre at quarterback than Chad Pennington.

The Jets seemed a lock for the playoffs, then lost four of their final five games.

The player Mangini said was the biggest impediment to excellence, Pennington, led the NFL's worst team in 2007, Miami, to a playoff berth in 2008.

Mangini was held accountable for the Jets' shortcomings, as he should have been.

This is not to say Mangini never should work as an NFL head coach again. It is to say he should not be a head coach again so soon.

Mangini needs to spend time as an offensive coordinator to regain credibility. He needs to show he can develop a quarterback and an offense.

When Bill Belichick was fired after four years as the Browns' coach, he spent the next four seasons as a defensive coordinator. Then the Patriots hired him as head coach.

That hasn't worked out badly for Belichick and the Patriots.

Mangini as the Browns' offensive coordinator makes sense. Mangini as the Browns' head coach does not.

People sometimes wonder why one program thrives while another falters.

Boston College and the Browns provide an answer.

The Eagles employed common sense. In Cleveland, it's the same old nonsense.
Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or .