CLEVELAND TEAMS

Tony Grossi reports that Eric Mangini and George Kokinis were not getting along as “both men became disenchanted with the other early on.”

This is pretty surprising, given that Kokinis was Mangini’s hand-picked GM. On the other hand, nothing ever seems to go smoothly in Berea under Randy Lerner. There’s been more drama at Browns’ headquarters than we typically see in a full season of Grey’s Anatomy. Remember the turf battles between Phil Savage and former team President John Collins?

It all goes back to Lerner. He’s doing all the hiring here, and then he leaves the building and expects things to run smoothly. Now he’s reportedly bringing in Ernie Accorsi and Bernie Kosar. The Accorsi move in particular would be a great one, but can we expect the drama to cease as long as Lerner’s the owner? Time will tell.

If this is true, Randy Lerner might be on his way to salvaging a terrible situation. Ernie Accorsi is one of the smartest men in football. He helped build the Browns of the 1980’s, and he was instrumental in bringing Eli Manning to the New York Giants. He’s great at evaluating talent, and he knows how to run a football organization.

If Lerner is serious about having Bernie Kosar run the Browns, then he’s smart to bring in Accorsi to help him. In know – it’s odd to think of Lerner making a “smart” decision given his track record.

But, this one would make a ton of sense.

As for Eric Mangini, I have no idea what’s in store for him, other than the fact that he’ll be answering to a real professional if Accorsi comes to Berea.

UPDATE: Jeff Schudel is reporting that Accorsi has been hired as the new GM of the Browns. This would make sense. I can’t see Bernie as the GM – he would be a better fit as team president. Accorsi can get his hands dirty and rebuild the team.

UPDATE #2: Tony Grossi is reporting that Accorsi will NOT be the new GM.