- Thread starter
- #1
BigKen
Day to Day
Eric Mangini made a decision to call out Bill Belichick's taping of his New York Jets' defensive signals. BB was fined $750K and lost a first round draft pick. Mangini is presently unemployed in thye NFL after two rather disastrous Head Coaching positions in New York and Cleveland. He's the article drom CBS Sports.com
Eric Mangini hopes Bill Belichick can forgive him for Spygate so they can be friends
The former Jets coach wishes the Patriots legend and his old mentor would bury the hatchet
The controversy surrounding the Patriots back in 2007 (Spygate) is largely overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the Patriots in 2014 (Deflategate), but there are plenty of people who have not forgotten what came out of the incident nearly a decade ago.
Eric Mangini, for instance, has still not spoken with Bill Belichick. Mangini, who was coach of the Jets in 2007, had been mentored by Belichick before leaving the Patriots to take the top coaching job with the division rival. He really ratcheted up the tension when he decided to inform the NFL about the Patriots practice of video taping their opponents' defensive signals from the sideline.
A whole controversy was born and Belichick hasn't spoken to Mangini since. Mangini told Rich Cimini of ESPN this weekend while coaching a youth football camp in Connecticut that he hopes the two can be friends again.
"Am I surprised? I hope it's something that can come back," Mangini said. "Look, Bill is a big part of my life. Bill gave me a tremendous opportunity, and I enjoyed that experience, and I respect him. It's disappointing, the way it's been. Hopefully, it can change at some point."
That Belichick decided to end the relationship shouldn't be a surprise. His reputation was sullied and the Patriots were severely punished. When Deflategate happened, it was not uncommon for people to assume the Patriots were "up to something" simply because of what happened in 2007.
The second controversy also created more investigation into the prior one, with ESPN reporting in 2015 that the Pats taped more than 40 teams from 2000 through 2007.
At least one NFL owner believed the harsh penalties against the Patriots in Deflategate were a "makeup call" for Spygate -- the tapes from 2007 were destroyed by Roger Goodell and the NFL and a "panicked" commissioner reportedly called Mike Martz and got him to sign off on a statement to avoid an investigation.
Mangini says it has been 10 years since he spoke to his former mentor, Belichick. USATSI
This is not the first time that Mangini has made a public statement saying he feels bad about how things went down. In 2012 Mangini said deciding to tell Jets security to watch the Patriots and filtering it up to the NFL was "a regret" and called it a "disappointment."
He said the same thing in September of last year -- it's pretty clear that he wishes he hadn't burnt Belichick. He also claims that his goal wasn't to rat out the Patriots, but only to stop them from videotaping and that things got "out of hand."
"It was never supposed to go the way that it went," Mangini said. "It was more about, 'Hey, don't do this here.' It wasn't about reporting it. Sometimes things get out of hand and get rolling in one direction. It was never, ever supposed to go that way."
It went that way and it got very public. History hasn't helped his story get written. After failing with the Jets, Mangini was hired by the Browns, where he won 10 games in two years before being relieved of his duties.
Last year alone Belichick won 14 games and the Super Bowl, for the fifth time as a head coach. Maybe mending fences is something that happens once Belichick hangs up his headset, but even then it's a longshot. He hasn't spoken to Mangini in 10 years! As Cimini noted, Belichick listed all his former coordinators last year and didn't include Mangini's name. It's pretty clearly a "you're dead to me" situation.
And forget about it right now. Belichick famously groused about the Patriots being five weeks behind the rest of the NFL for the coming season the day after New England won the Super Bowl. He's not going to take time away from coaching football to worry about the feelings of someone who helped to create the biggest controversy of Belichick's coaching career.
Eric Mangini hopes Bill Belichick can forgive him for Spygate so they can be friends
The former Jets coach wishes the Patriots legend and his old mentor would bury the hatchet
The controversy surrounding the Patriots back in 2007 (Spygate) is largely overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the Patriots in 2014 (Deflategate), but there are plenty of people who have not forgotten what came out of the incident nearly a decade ago.
Eric Mangini, for instance, has still not spoken with Bill Belichick. Mangini, who was coach of the Jets in 2007, had been mentored by Belichick before leaving the Patriots to take the top coaching job with the division rival. He really ratcheted up the tension when he decided to inform the NFL about the Patriots practice of video taping their opponents' defensive signals from the sideline.
A whole controversy was born and Belichick hasn't spoken to Mangini since. Mangini told Rich Cimini of ESPN this weekend while coaching a youth football camp in Connecticut that he hopes the two can be friends again.
"Am I surprised? I hope it's something that can come back," Mangini said. "Look, Bill is a big part of my life. Bill gave me a tremendous opportunity, and I enjoyed that experience, and I respect him. It's disappointing, the way it's been. Hopefully, it can change at some point."
That Belichick decided to end the relationship shouldn't be a surprise. His reputation was sullied and the Patriots were severely punished. When Deflategate happened, it was not uncommon for people to assume the Patriots were "up to something" simply because of what happened in 2007.
The second controversy also created more investigation into the prior one, with ESPN reporting in 2015 that the Pats taped more than 40 teams from 2000 through 2007.
At least one NFL owner believed the harsh penalties against the Patriots in Deflategate were a "makeup call" for Spygate -- the tapes from 2007 were destroyed by Roger Goodell and the NFL and a "panicked" commissioner reportedly called Mike Martz and got him to sign off on a statement to avoid an investigation.
Mangini says it has been 10 years since he spoke to his former mentor, Belichick. USATSI
This is not the first time that Mangini has made a public statement saying he feels bad about how things went down. In 2012 Mangini said deciding to tell Jets security to watch the Patriots and filtering it up to the NFL was "a regret" and called it a "disappointment."
He said the same thing in September of last year -- it's pretty clear that he wishes he hadn't burnt Belichick. He also claims that his goal wasn't to rat out the Patriots, but only to stop them from videotaping and that things got "out of hand."
"It was never supposed to go the way that it went," Mangini said. "It was more about, 'Hey, don't do this here.' It wasn't about reporting it. Sometimes things get out of hand and get rolling in one direction. It was never, ever supposed to go that way."
It went that way and it got very public. History hasn't helped his story get written. After failing with the Jets, Mangini was hired by the Browns, where he won 10 games in two years before being relieved of his duties.
Last year alone Belichick won 14 games and the Super Bowl, for the fifth time as a head coach. Maybe mending fences is something that happens once Belichick hangs up his headset, but even then it's a longshot. He hasn't spoken to Mangini in 10 years! As Cimini noted, Belichick listed all his former coordinators last year and didn't include Mangini's name. It's pretty clearly a "you're dead to me" situation.
And forget about it right now. Belichick famously groused about the Patriots being five weeks behind the rest of the NFL for the coming season the day after New England won the Super Bowl. He's not going to take time away from coaching football to worry about the feelings of someone who helped to create the biggest controversy of Belichick's coaching career.