Eric Mangini Fired: Browns, Mike Holmgren Decide To Move On

The Cleveland Browns announced on Monday that head coach Eric Mangini has been fired which didn’t some as a huge surprise as speculation on Mangini’s future had been rampant for several weeks. Now that he has been dismissed, the Browns turn to finding their next head coach -- a search that will not include Mike Holmgren.

Holmgren moved into a front office role with the Browns earlier this year and there was some speculation that he could hire himself as the head coach. He says that won’t be happening -- at least not this year.

The Cleveland Browns have fired Eric Mangini which means Mike Holmgren’s offseason will begin with a coaching search. The Monday after the regular season ends is called Black Monday for all the coaches that will be fired so we expect more candidate names to pop up but early speculation includes several names.

Peter King of SI.com writes in MMQB that he expects Holmgren to “strongly consider” Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg for the job. Holmgren coached Mornhinweg in high school 30 years ago.

Holmgren and the Browns will now search for their replacement though that is not expected to be Holmgren himself. Though there’s been speculation that he could hire himself as head coach the early indications are that he will hire someone else.

This is the second consecutive job from which Mangini was fired in less than three seasons so it’s hard to believe he’ll return to the head coaching ranks right away.