HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- Two years ago, many thought Eric Mangini was in over his head.
The wunderkind assistant, who got his start in the NFL as a public relations assistant, had quickly climbed the coaching ranks under Bill Belichick's tutelage and was given control of the New York Jets two days shy of his 35th birthday.
Mangini won 10 games and went to the playoffs his first season. He went from being considered too immature for the gig to being called Mangenius.
Then in 2007 the Jets won four games, only two against teams not called the Miami Dolphins. The Jets were abysmal. They couldn't get production from their quarterbacks. Their line couldn't block. Their defense couldn't stop a purse snatcher.
"Mangenius" was uttered with enough sarcasm to make Bill Murray blush.
"The beautiful thing about the NFL is that every year is so different," Mangini said. "That's what you love about it, and that's what you know is going to be the same."
The Jets enter 2008 with sincere hopes of returning to the playoffs. Since 2003, they've won six, 10, four, 10 and four games. If the trend continues, they'll silence the snickering pundits.
"There is going to be some team that's able to make great strides, and some teams that are established that will take steps back," Mangini said.
"The radical difference between the expectations of the two years just reinforced the point that we talk about all the time. Expectations don't mean anything. What we do means something."
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"Mangenius"
"Mangenius"
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