Fan Forum: Rex Ryan’s Got Nothing on Eric Mangini When It Comes to Being New England Villain

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Jan 11, 2011

Fan Forum: Rex Ryan's Got Nothing on Eric Mangini When It Comes to Being New England Villain Rex Ryan makes everything personal, calls out Tom Brady for taking in some fine New York culture and thumps his chest on a regular basis, but the guy isn't nearly as bad as Eric Mangini.

Sure, this Sunday at 4:30 p.m., there won't be too many folks in New England worried about the former Bill Belichick assistant when the Jets and Patriots meet in the divisional round of the playoffs, but it's important to remember the brief Mangini era in New York before Ryan gets too much on your bad side.

Mangini, mind you, is the same coach who put so much emphasis on beating the Patriots this year that his players rewarded him with a Gatorade bath. In early November. After a game that made the Browns 3-5.

He's the same coach who dutifully worked for Belichick, first by his side in New York and then under him in New England. He was the defensive line coach, then the defensive coordinator, and then  he was locked out of his office at Gillette Stadium after the Patriots lost to the Broncos in the 2005 playoffs.

And so a rivalry was born.

Mangini beat Belichick and the Patriots the following year in Foxboro, leading the organization to rip up the turf and lay down an artificial surface. Brady hasn't lost at home since that day. The Pats beat the Jets at home in the playoffs, but that was really just the beginning.

In Week 1 of the fateful 2007 season, the Jets ordered a Patriots staffer be removed from the sidelines for illegally recording Jets coaches. While the Patriots were breaking the rules, the man who tattled on them was the same man who benefited from the same work in New England: Mangini. It was the final phase of the complete destruction of the relationship between Belichick and his former mentee.

The Pats won that game, and the next one against the Jets, and though Mangini and Brett Favre won in New England in '08, the coach was canned after going 23-25 in three seasons. In New England, though, he managed to do a whole lot more damage than that.

Who is your least favorite Jets coach in the past 15 years? Share your thoughts below.

Monday, Jan. 11: Nnamdi Asomugha is enticing, but Patriots will stay away.

Which Jets coach have you disliked the most in past 15 years?customer surveys

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