I can tell you now that the Jets made a big mistake throwing Mangini overboard. By landing on his feet less than two weeks after getting canned by the Jets, Mangini looks like a genius. At the very least, he was smart enough to snooker four years out of the Browns.

And as the Jets stumble and bumble their way through a coaching search, owner Woody Johnson and general manager Mike Tannenbaum look like the chumps.

They were the ones who made Mangini the primary fall guy for the team's awful slide down the stretch. It was a monumental collapse and Mangini did bear some of the responsibility. He made some questionable play calls in losses to San Francisco and Seattle, and he didn't motivate the troops sufficiently.

Now we find out that quarterback Brett Favre was operating with a torn biceps tendon in his throwing arm and wasn't the same quarterback who had helped the team get to 8-3 and draw a bead on the playoffs. And now Mangini doesn't look so much like Barney Fife with a clipboard and a whistle.