Mangini Says He Will Have Input On Hiring New GM

The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports that Browns head coach Eric Mangini will reportedly have say over who the team hires as its new general manager.

Mangini told reporters that the team may wait until the offseason to fill the vacancy. According to the Plain-Dealer:

[Mangini] indicated that the Browns have strong enough pro and college departments to function without a GM for the rest of the season. […] He said he has no doubt the team can operate efficiently right now without a GM. According to several league sources, Kokinis’ role was reduced so much that things won’t operate much differently than they did with him here over the past few months.

The admission that Kokinis was largely a figurehead is certainly an indictment of the roles within the front office, particularly regarding Mangini’s position. It was widely assumed when Kokinis was fired that Mangini would be next on the chopping block, although this report seems to suggest that Mangini may merely be consolidating power, as he wears the GM hat as well. Given the large contract the Lerners gave Mangini this past offseason, it’s certainly plausible that they could give him another year to try to revive the franchise’s fortunes while he acts as both de facto general manager and head coach.

But given that Mangini hand-picked Kokinis as GM before this season, it defies belief that the Lerners would accommodate him again when they choose a new general manager. The other possibility is that ownership will wait until the offseason to pick a new front office and coaching staff, and that in the interim they will let Mangini operate in both roles since there is only so much a general manager can do in-season.

We’ll keep you updated with any other developments.