Same Old Browns? Jim Zorn and Marty Mornhinweg top Choices to Replace Eric Mangini

[Brian Damage]

Eric Mangini is still the head coach of the Cleveland Browns but you can be sure he didn't have some huge sense of relief when the season finally ended on Sunday. After all, he could be facing a firing soon enough by the team's new Big Fella, Mike Holmgren.

Holmgren gives off the sense that he may stick with Mangini and give him a little more time than one year to see if he can make his vision come alive on the field, but if Holmgren decides to not wait at all, there is apparently a man waiting in the wings for Mangini's spot: Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Mornhinweg would be the top candidate to take Mangini's spot if he gets canned. After all, Mornhinweg was an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach under Holmgren when they were both with the Green Bay Packers.

Last time he was a head coach, though, he "led" the Detroit Lions to a 5-27 record over two seasons.

Remember Zorn: Jim Zorn, fired by the Redskins Monday, could resurface in Cleveland at some point depending on Holmgren's choice for a head coach. Zorn worked as quarterbacks coach in Seattle under Holmgren from 2001-07. Holmgren stood up for Zorn when the Redskins stripped him of his playcalling duties after six games.

Mornhinweg, too: If Holmgren fires Mangini, Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg could emerge as a top candidate to replace him. Mornhinweg, who worked as an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach under Holmgren in Green Bay, is viewed as an up-and-coming coordinator.

Mornhinweg has apparently overcome the stigma of his two-year stint as head coach for the Lions, where his Detroit teams were 5-27 in 2001-02. ESPN The Magazine recently declared Mornhinweg the NFL's "next great coach."


http://www.cleveland.com/browns/inde...ni_says_t.html