Mangini, McDaniels have much to learn

Mangini, a former assistant with New England, has gone down this road with mixed results — one playoff appearance with the Jets in three seasons. Ironically, he's now in Cleveland where Belichick didn't receive high marks from the media or fans. Remember, in his first head-coaching gig (1991-95 with Browns, 36-44 overall record) he benched starting QB Bernie Kosar, suffered losing seasons in four of his five years, and went up in flames when then-owner Art Modell bolted to Baltimore. It took Belichick a few years, plus a supportive owner in Bob Kraft, to become the game's greatest coach, comparable to Bill Walsh. Ex-Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels went down that Belichick path with quarterback Jay Cutler this offseason, and look where that got the Broncos. Yes, a head coach has to be the boss, but within reason. No young head coach should go to war with his franchise quarterback. They are going to lose every time. Listen to your general manager.

It bugged the heck out of Mike Holmgren that Ron Wolf got as much credit as he did when they turned around the Green Bay Packers in the 1990s. But Holmgren never would have won without Wolf, who had the guts to trade for Brett Favre and also the dollars and sense to pay Reggie White whatever he wanted. Look around these new NFL outposts, and with the exception of Indianapolis where Bill Polian and Jimmy Irsay have seen everything, the rest are searching for an identity. I have confidence in the general managers in Kansas City, Seattle and St. Louis, but some of the others aren't loaded with stable winners and common-sense ownership. You can bet that Mangini didn't call owner Randy Lerner about his bus trip; he simply did it. A decade or so ago, Raiders owner Al Davis was the perfect sounding board for any young head coach. Look how Jon Gruden grew with the Raiders. Davis' relationship with Kiffin failed and now he's rolling the dice with Cable, a coach who was unknown to him a year or so ago. We all heard Davis at the press conference seeking information on Cable before announcing him as interim coach. Tampa Bay has moneyed ownership that stays hidden, and they have turned the Bucs over to two young guys in GM Mark Dominik and coach Raheem Morris. But it's important for Morris to cool his youthful intensity, which was partly responsible for several recent skirmishes on the practice field during minicamp. Who needs players fighting in May? Not everyone thinks like Bill Parcells.

Just look at what Parcells has done with the Dolphins, especially with Coach Tony Sparano. I'm pretty confident that nobody other than Parcells would have hired Sparano to be a head coach. It was the right call and now Parcells' son-in-law, Scott Pioli, is attempting to pull the same magic with Todd Haley, another Parcells find, in Kansas City. Haley once got in Terrell Owens' face in Dallas, but does that make him Sparano? Still, it is an interesting marriage in Kansas City, one supported fully by owner Clark Hunt, whose strengths are similar to his late father Lamar. The overarching lesson for all young head coaches out there: You don't know everything, yet.