<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Source: Jets offer Mangini head jobBY KEN BERGERSTAFF WRITERJanuary 16, 2006, 8:22 PM ESTOn the eighth day of their search for a new head coach, the Jets decided late this afternoon to offer the job to Patriots defensive coordinator Eric Mangini, a person with knowledge of the situation told Newsday.The team is expected to finalize details on a contract that is likely to make Mangini its next coach as early as Tuesday. Barring any contractual hang-ups, Mangini, who would become the youngest head coach in the NFL at 34, is likely to accept the job."It looks like he will," said the person, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. "It's about as likely as anything could be."The situation remains fluid and unfinished, the person cautioned, especially since the Jets finished interviewing their final candidate, former Vikings coach Mike Tice, at 4 p.m. this afternoon."There's still things that would have to happen and details that would have to be worked on," the person said. "But my perception is that by tomorrow morning, the Jets will have a new coach."Their choice is Mangini, the Hartford, Conn., native who has spent 10 of his 11 years as an NFL assistant with Patriots coach Bill Belichick, including the 2005 season as his defensive coordinator."It appears as if the job will be his and the club was in the process of putting an offer on the table today," the person said.A second person connected to the Jets' search confirmed that the Jets were leaning strongly toward Mangini, but did not have first-hand knowledge that an offer was made.General manager Terry Bradway and assistant GM Mike Tannenbaum did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment. Earlier in the evening, Bradway issued a statement through a team spokesman."No other candidates are expected at this point," Bradway said. "At this point, we are going to huddle up and review our process to this point and decide what our next plan of action is."Bradway and Tannenbaum interviewed Mangini on Sunday in Massachusetts, dined in Providence, R.I., and returned to Long Island late last night to prepare for the final interview of the week-long search, with Tice, the former Vikings head coach from Central Islip.All along, team officials had set up interviews with Mangini and Tice on back-to-back days because they viewed them as the top two candidates. Their intuition was true, especially with Tice, who "knocked it out of the park," according the second person connected to the interview process.Tice's interview was so good, the person said, that it caused the Jets' hierarchy to reassess the situation late this afternoon. But in the end, there apparently wasn't enough to dissuade the team from taking a chance on Mangini, who will turn 35 Thursday and is viewed by the Jets' hierarchy as an up-and-coming version of Belichick.</div>http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jet...ports-headlines
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Mangini accepts offer to become new Jets coachESPN.com news servicesThe New York Jets wrapped up their search for a new coach Monday when Patriots defensive coordinator Eric Mangini accepted the club's offer to replace Herm Edwards.Mangini, who becomes the youngest head coach in the NFL at 34 (he turns 35 on Thursday), and the Jets were finalizing the deal late Monday. An official announcement is expected Tuesday."We haven't heard anything," Patriots spokesman Stacey James told The Associated Press.The Jets moved quickly Monday after former Vikings coach Mike Tice, the final candidate to meet with the team, was brought in for an interview. The Associated Press reported that Jets assistant coaches had been told to report to work Wednesday, indicating a decision on a hire would be made by then.Mangini, a prot?g? of Patriots coach Bill Belichick -- Mangini has spent 10 of his 11 years as an NFL assistant working with him -- emerged as the leading candidate last week. Regarded as one of the brightest defensive minds in the game, Mangini was never more than an NFL position coach until this season, when he was promoted to coordinator to replace Romeo Crennel, who departed to become coach of the Cleveland Browns.But Jets general manager Terry Bradway said that past head coaching experience was not a requirement for the Jets, that the team would prefer someone who has been in a "managing-type position, whether it be a coordinator or a guy with head coaching experience."Mangini also has close ties to Jets assistant GM Mike Tannenbaum. Mangini was an assistant with the Jets from 1997-99, working with Belichick in the secondary, and he and Tannenbaum also worked together in Cleveland in the mid-1990s.With Mangini getting the job, it is believed that defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson, offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger and special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff will probably be out. All three interviewed for the head coaching job, as did former Saints coach Jim Haslett, former Rams interim coach Joe Vitt and Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis.The Jets' job officially came open Jan. 9, when Edwards, their coach for five seasons, was officially introduced as the Kansas City Chiefs' new coach. The Chiefs were rumored to be interested in Edwards in the two months prior to the end of the regular season, and he bolted with two years remaining on his contract.The Chiefs will give the Jets a fourth-round draft pick as compensation, while Edwards got a four-year, $12 million deal from Kansas City.Edwards' 2004 Jets team came within a field goal of reaching the AFC championship game. But starting with a loss in Kansas City in the season opener, the injury-wracked 2005 Jets fell to 4-12, and many fans became disgruntled.On Dec. 31, when 69-year-old Dick Vermeil tearfully told the Chiefs he was stepping down, Edwards was still saying he wanted to remain in New York.Days later, Chiefs president Carl Peterson was dropping hints that he intended to be reunited with his friend and protege of more than 30 years, and the relationship between Edwards and the Jets quickly turned sour.</div>Source: ESPN.com
Thrilled...I wanted a hotshot coordinator with all the potential of becoming a top NFL coach. Not some retread like Tice or Haslett.
LOL, the Patriots are getting dismantled piece-by-piece. First, they saw Weiss head to NCAA, and now this. The Patriots administration has totally got there work cut out for them in order to find some new coordinators. As for the Jets, nice move.
