But in a shocking development, Mangini has decided to take the high road. He won't fire back at his players.
As the coach closed up his first training camp as head coach of the Browns, he told USA Today, "What I told the guys when I left and had my last team meeting was that everything I did and the staff did was designed to help them achieve their personal potential. That is my job because it makes them better players and makes us a better team."
In three years at the helm of the Jets, Mangini compiled a 23-25 record. He led New York to a 9-7 record in 2008 and a 10-6 record and a playoff berth in 2006. Still, it didn't quite live up to the expectations of the franchise, which dismissed him last winter.
"Everything we did was thought out and had a purpose," Mangini said. "I'm proud of the things we accomplished with the New York Jets. It was a good group of guys in the locker room and I wish them all success."
Earlier this month, Jets saftey Kerry Rhodes told the L.A. Times that during Mangini's tenure, the players were "holding so much stuff in that at the end of the day it can be combustible."
Seconded Damien Woody, "Here I am 31 years old, I've got my own kids and I'm married, and here's someone that's not so much older than me — or whatever the case may be — telling me what I can and can't do … It's so regimented where the game is just not a game anymore. It's not fun. Even when you win, it's not fun."
Still, Mangini is confident that his approach and attitude will bode well during his regime in Cleveland.
"I want them to know why I do the things I do and explain to them that they can come talk to me at any point," he told USA Today. "I don't want to let little things become big things. That's not a corporate saying. I mean that."
