BY NICK ST. DENIS
Remember Eric Mangini? Sure you do.
The former New York Jets head man and ex-New England Patriots defensive coordinator, who has been out of coaching since leading the Cleveland Browns to consecutive 5-11 records in 2009-10, will be back on the sideline this year.
Mangini has taken over as the San Francisco 49ers' tight ends coach, according to Bill Williamson of ESPN.com.
It's an interesting move given that he spent a decade coaching on the defensive side of the ball before taking the Jets' gig in 2006. He was fired from that post in 2008 after his Brett Favre-led team suffered a monumental collapse in the latter part of the season.
But despite his defensive background, Mangini had served in an offensive consultant role with the 49ers last year, which ultimately earned him his current positional coach job.
Good for him. Mangini was an up-and-coming coach in the mid-2000s, leading the Jets to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth after taking over for Herm Edwards and his 4-12 squad. Mangini hit the bottom a few years later and is now working his way back up.
And he just turned 43 years old yesterday, so he has plenty of time to work his way back and eventually replace the Buffalo Bills' Doug Marrone or the Miami Dolphins' Joe Philbin. Just kidding. Maybe.
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