Coach Belichick Needs to Grow Up

by user Alanschech

Imagine that you were at the top of your game, whatever that game may be, and enjoying great success. You came up through the ranks of your business, finally making your way to the top. Once at the top, you enjoy several years of success. Then, one of your top assistants gets a job running another organization. He takes your years of leadership, and leads that new organization to great success, how would you handle your former assistant's success? Wouldn't you celebrate it? Feel good for your former student? Enjoy your time when you see your former student's sucess. I think most of you would. Yes, you might compete with them, but you would be happy for them.

Clearly, this is not Bill Belichick's take on things. After all the years that he was an assistant, and now at the top, Belichick understands what it means to pay your dues. Eric Mangini has done the same thing, mostly with Belichick as his teacher. Now, Mangini has gone out on his own, and led his New York Jets to a 10-6 record and an improbable wild card berth. Now does he seem happy for his former assistant? No, and it really is un called for.

After each of the matchups this year, coach Mangini walked out to shake his former mentor's hand, clearly looking to be hospitable, but Belichick just shakes his hand, barely saying a word and walks away. Clearly the old boss has a problem. It was reported that in a press conference this week, Belichick was asked where is relationship with Mangini soured, and there was a silence, awkward and long enough for the reporter to say "Hello?". Clearly Belichick has an issue.

Maybe he is jealous of Mangini, having success as a first year coach where Belichick did not. Maybe he is mad that he left the organization to go back to the Jets, where clearly Belichick has animosity. Coach, if you didn't want him to leave, you shouldn't have in the first place. Now be a grown up, and enjoy the fact that one of your underlings has clearly learned from you, let the past go, and enjoy his success, as well as your own.

DrpatriotAll-American

646 days ago

Score 3

I threw you a vote because you had a reasonably well-researched article and some valid opinions. As a Patriots fan, there are a few reasons that we fully suport Belichick's feud with Mangini.

-It is reported that even on the plane ride home from our playoff loss, Mangini was positioning himself to "borrow" assistant coaches from the Patriots organization and manuever his way into being head coach of the Jets.

-Mangini is rumored to have campaigned with some of the Patriots free agents before free agency (Matt Chatham, Tim Dwight) to come sign with the Jets.

-However, none of these things are as bad as the actions of Mangini and the Jets during the Deion Branch negotiations. While the Patriots were negotiating with Branch, the Jets disclosed their offer to the Patriots for Branch to Branch's agent. They were not authorized to reveal this information. By revealing this, the Patriots' hand was forced when Seattle offered their first-round pick for Branch because it ruined the Patriots' leverage.

Those are the reasons that Belichick has animosity toward Mangini. They seem plenty called for to me.

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AlanschechVarsity

645 days ago

Score 1

Thanks for the vote, good to hear from the other side. My rebuttal is this,

1-Branch still isn't a Jet.

2-Rumors are still rumors, and Mangini learned from his bosses. Chatham and Dwight came along, just like Belichick brought Roman Pfifer and other guys from his Jets defense along with him. What goes around comes around.

3-If you want to talk about the assistant coach thing, Belichick is the one who declined the Jets job one day after being given it, and taking most of the coaches along with him.

Bottom line, thanks for the points. Glad we could debate it because debate is the best part of sports. Enjoy the game Sunday.

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EnyboDiv-I Stud

645 days ago

Score 1

Just to add to the list, I think the fact that Mangini left for a division rival is cause enough to show some animosity towards him.

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False ProphetAll-Star

645 days ago

Score 0

It doesn't matter that he isn't a jet, it still screwed the pats and forced them into taking the Seatle offer. The Difference between what Mangini did and what Belichik did was Mangini was recruiting players on the pats for the jets before the end of his contract with the patriots. Also, doing this shows that Mangini had been thinking and planning things for the job BEFORE the denver game, which would take away time for him to prepare for his current job.

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AlanschechVarsity

645 days ago

Score 1

False prophet, OK, fair point on the Branch thing. We don't know that Belichick wasn't recruiting the Jets players before he left as well. I mean, come on, the guy left one day after being given the Jets job, we can't believe that he thought of it that day only, which leads me to think he was doing the same thing before he left the Jets. If you look at Belichick's book, it notes that Kraft never wanted Belichick to leave in the first place. So more than likely it was the same thing.

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False ProphetAll-Star

645 days ago

Score 0

but the Jets weren't in the playoffs. Mangini was focusing on the Jets Job when he should have been working on how to get his team to the playoffs. Also, there was no talk of him recruiting jets players.

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AlanschechVarsity

645 days ago

Score 1

You know false Prophet, the bottom line is we will never know what really happened, Just because there were rumors about Mangini doesn't make them true, just as there being none about Belichick doesn't mean nothing happened. You have to admit, the way he bolted from the Jets, you have to acknowledge the possibility that he did the same thing. Come on, ever since the Parcells situation, there have been claims back and forth, false and true. We will never know what really happened. I guess this is why you and I can debate it.

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