Another angle on Kokinis
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Adam Schefter (sp?) was just reporting something to the effect that Kokinis was required to undergo counceling. Perhaps he wasn't well.
Coach Holmgren: "I made the decision to keep Eric [Mangini] and every day I know I did the right thing." -
Rutigliano, Dieken, Grossi, and Donovan all agreed on their show a few days ago that Kokonis just wasn't qualified and/or ready for the GM job. My guess is that he's both a victim and at fault. He came in and was quickly marginalized by Mangini. He realized that the contract giving him final authority and reality were two different things. Some personalities withdraw when confronted by conflict, particularly if they think it isn't a hill worth dying on. Kokonis realized he didn't have the allies, didn't feel up to the battle (or felt that he couldn't win or come to an understanding), and so he just mentally checked out and awaited his doom. Those of us who've been in very bad work atmospheres can relate. It may be that he wasn't ready for a GM job, particularly in an environment that was the opposite of calm and developmental, and so he quickly sank and drowned in the cesspool that is the current Browns org.
Mangini just seems very hard to work with. While it's easy to call on people to man up and work for the boss, imo alienating those who work with and under you is nothing but bad leadership. EM needs a pink slip.
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"I have fired five people in my life. When you fire someone with or for cause, it's real. They've done something negative outside of the boundaries of what's expected"
You being a assistant manager at Rally's firing some pimply face 16 year old kids for missing work is a little different in this situation.
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Rutigliano, Dieken, Grossi, and Donovan all agreed on their show a few days ago that Kokonis just wasn't qualified and/or ready for the GM job. My guess is that he's both a victim and at fault. He came in and was quickly marginalized by Mangini. He realized that the contract giving him final authority and reality were two different things. Some personalities withdraw when confronted by conflict, particularly if they think it isn't a hill worth dying on. Kokonis realized he didn't have the allies, didn't feel up to the battle (or felt that he couldn't win or come to an understanding), and so he just mentally checked out and awaited his doom. Those of us who've been in very bad work atmospheres can relate. It may be that he wasn't ready for a GM job, particularly in an environment that was the opposite of calm and developmental, and so he quickly sank and drowned in the cesspool that is the current Browns org.
Mangini just seems very hard to work with. While it's easy to call on people to man up and work for the boss, imo alienating those who work with and under you is nothing but bad leadership. EM needs a pink slip.
Rutigliano, Dieken, Grossi, and Donovan all agreed on their show a few days ago that Kokonis just wasn't qualified and/or ready for the GM job. My guess is that he's both a victim and at fault. He came in and was quickly marginalized by Mangini. He realized that the contract giving him final authority and reality were two different things. Some personalities withdraw when confronted by conflict, particularly if they think it isn't a hill worth dying on. Kokonis realized he didn't have the allies, didn't feel up to the battle (or felt that he couldn't win or come to an understanding), and so he just mentally checked out and awaited his doom. Those of us who've been in very bad work atmospheres can relate. It may be that he wasn't ready for a GM job, particularly in an environment that was the opposite of calm and developmental, and so he quickly sank and drowned in the cesspool that is the current Browns org.
If I had to, I'd guess this is closer to the truth than anything else.
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"I have fired five people in my life. When you fire someone with or for cause, it's real. They've done something negative outside of the boundaries of what's expected"
You being a assistant manager at Rally's firing some pimply face 16 year old kids for missing work is a little different in this situation.
berniesipe said:
"I have fired five people in my life. When you fire someone with or for cause, it's real. They've done something negative outside of the boundaries of what's expected"You being a assistant manager at Rally's firing some pimply face 16 year old kids for missing work is a little different in this situation.
Try again....if you want to see my professional credentials....we can have that pissing match too.
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Adam Schefter (sp?) was just reporting something to the effect that Kokinis was required to undergo counceling. Perhaps he wasn't well.
Adam Schefter (sp?) was just reporting something to the effect that Kokinis was required to undergo counceling. Perhaps he wasn't well.
DING! DING! DING! We have a winner!
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I'm sure the fact that Lerner's hired a former Secret Service agent to dig into phone records to weasel out of their contract and the notion that the Browns organization is now attempting to discredit the sanity of the former GM is going to do WONDERS in their efforts to attract the best available GMs to come to this wonderfully run organization.
Any top tier GM candidate that sees that degree of a smear campaign on the last GM is sure to say "Yeah! That's the place where I want to go!!!!"
Smart guy that Lerner.
Letting Mangini tell everyone that he'll be helping to make the call on the next GM has to be a big plus as well.
Good to see Lerner's getting a grip on things.
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I'm sure the fact that Lerner's hired a former Secret Service agent to dig into phone records to weasel out of their contract and the notion that the Browns organization is now attempting to discredit the sanity of the former GM is going to do WONDERS in their efforts to attract the best available GMs to come to this wonderfully run organization.
Any top tier GM candidate that sees that degree of a smear campaign on the last GM is sure to say "Yeah! That's the place where I want to go!!!!"
Smart guy that Lerner.
Letting Mangini tell everyone that he'll be helping to make the call on the next GM has to be a big plus as well.
Good to see Lerner's getting a grip on things.
I'm sure the fact that Lerner's hired a former Secret Service agent to dig into phone records to weasel out of their contract and the notion that the Browns organization is now attempting to discredit the sanity of the former GM is going to do WONDERS in their efforts to attract the best available GMs to come to this wonderfully run organization.
Discredit his sanity? Encouraging the guy to attend counseling does no such thing. A counselor is nothing more than a life coach that helps you sort through issues. They are experienced at helping people maintain or regain functionality in their daily lives when they become overwhelmed by events or situations. They facilitate communication that can be beneficial to all parties involved. I know many perfectly sane people who have successfully worked with counselors for lots of different reasons. I also know many people who would benefit greatly from counseling but who THINK it reflects on their sanity so they don't go. If more people thought of counselors as coaches, many of us would be happier.
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Adam Schefter (sp?) was just reporting something to the effect that Kokinis was required to undergo counceling. Perhaps he wasn't well.
Adam Schefter (sp?) was just reporting something to the effect that Kokinis was required to undergo counceling. Perhaps he wasn't well.
In other news, Schefter reported the Browns ordered Kokinis to undergo counseling because Kokinis had become so withdrawn. The report said Kokinis and Mangini rarely if ever talked, which is ironic since Kokinis was hired on Mangini's recommendation after 13 years with the Ravens following five with the Browns.
Reporters who covered training camp daily found it strange Kokinis was rarely on the practice field observing, and when he was on the field he was hardly ever with Mangini. Instead he would watch practice from a golf cart in the fieldhouse — not exactly a box seat. Asked how he could learn anything from practice from that vantage point, Kokinis said he would watch the tapes of practice to assess the players.
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Hearing that Kokonis wasn't involved in the BE deal, it makes me wonder if EM really got what he could for Edwards. If EM is as overwhelmed as it sounds, and not trusting or relying on any front office help, did he just take a call from his comfort zone (his old team) and get what he could for BE because he decided that he had enough of him, or was he soliciting offers from the rest of the league?
The Tribe got what looks like a bad return for Lee, but at least you know there that the GM and his underlings were talking to other teams like the Dodgers beforehand, so they got what they thought was the best deal.
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Browns' case against Kokinis seems to be weak
Posted by Mike Florio on November 10, 2009 11:18 AM ET
Last week, we complained that the decision of the Browns to drop only vague hints regarding the reasons for the departure of G.M. George Kokinis seems grossly unfair to Kokinis.
Comments from owner Randy Lerner suggesting that the developments were "unforeseen" coupled with other circumstances prompted speculation that Kokinis must have done something very wrong, bad, or both to be fired "with cause."
Over the past several days, more details have emerged. Apparently, the team's argument in support of firing Kokinis and not paying him is that Kokinis wasn't working.
Recent reports have suggested that Kokinis was "in over his head," that became "disconnected" from coach Eric Mangini, that the two men had little if any contact, and that Kokinis became so withdrawn that the team "ordered him into counseling."
Did it ever occur to the team that the problem wasn't Kokinis, but Mangini? Lured from Baltimore with a written contract giving Kokinis full authority over the roster, Kokinis made the mistake of believing that the content of the document reflected the true state of affairs. By all appearances, Mangini steamrolled Kokinis. So should it be a surprise if, eventually, Kokinis' demeanor reflected the domination that Mangini was displaying?
Moreover, we've heard from several sources that Kokinis wasn't simply going through the motions.
"He'd call me from his office at midnight," one source said. "George is a worker. All he does is watch film. You can say anything you want about George, but you can't say he didn't work hard."
On one hand, we understand that owner Randy Lerner doesn't want to be responsible for an ever-growing list of buyouts. But this is the wrong way to do business, and it will as a practical matter makes folks with options less likely to trust the team when offered employment.
Moreover, while the Browns benefit from the fact that any legal fight regarding Kokinis' ongoing compensation will be decided by the league office, the Browns need to be careful about what they say and do beyond the confines of the employment relationship. If they keep sending out smoke signals that Kokinis did something far worse than what he really did, Kokinis might be able to seek some relief in a court of law, too.
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Thats 2 Mangini bashing acticles by FLorio and its not even noon yet. Any wagers on how many he writes today? Its atleast 5 or 6 a day. Come on Florio write a real, informative, non cleveland bashing article. I dare you, bet you cant do. Prove me wrong
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