FanHouse Syndric Steptoe

Eric Mangini has made some missteps early in his tenure as the Browns' head coach. In June, he put the rookies on a bus from Cleveland to Hartford, Connecticut to work a football camp (a 10-hour ride) while he opted to hop a plane (not a 10-hour ride). Shockingly, he was derided for that decision.

In fact, at the time, the Newark Star-Ledger's Dave Hutchinson, who covered Mangini during his three-year stint as the Jets coach, predicted that he "wouldn't last more than two years," and that "He continues to try to be a mini-Bill Belichick without the resume to back it up."

Now, following the season-ending shoulder injury to wide receiver Syndric Steptoe, Mangini is again the target of criticism. Via the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot:

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

After 2007 brought the the Browns their first 10-win season in 13 years, expectations were exceedingly high heading into 2008. The team didn't change much, the core group of guys were back and they had a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. However, a quarterback carousel, a coach that never seemed to be the right fit and continued inconsistency on both ends led to a 4-12 season and a lot of "back to the drawing board" talk.

Eric Mangini is now the head honcho for the Browns and with that comes a lot of (warranted or not) expectations from the former Jets guru.

As we get ready for week one matchup of the Cowboys and Browns, Ace Davis from his own Ace Davis Cleveland Browns Blog was nice enough to offer some insights on the Browns for this week's Behind Enemy Lines feature.