When the Jets interviewed Mangini, the team president Jay Cross said the front office was impressed with his intellect and lack of clichéd answers. Mangini leaned heavily on what he learned from Belichick, a coach lauded for his intellectual approach to building a team.
Mangini wants the same type of players that helped him and the Patriots win: smart, selfless, versatile and tough. Mangini told Jets scouts that if they brought him players who did not fit that description, there would be a problem. And he is committed to sticking with his program, just as Belichick did in New England even though he started with a 5-11 record.
"It was consistent," Mangini said. "People were trying to get us to move off the program. If we had ever swayed, who knows what would have happened? That's the program we're going to stick with. I've seen it work. I've experienced it. That's what I believe in."
