BEREA, Ohio The ominous silence over Monday's ouster of Browns General Manager George Kokinis could signal a legal battle over money still due Kokinis.
Kokinis' father, Pete, was Mangini's wrestling coach at Bulkeley High School in Hartford, Conn. Kokinis and Mangini were roommates in a Berea apartment when they broke into the NFL as Browns interns in 1994. Kokinis served on the board of directors of Mangini's foundation.
ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported Tuesday that the Browns were seekingdismissal ''for cause.'' On Monday, Mortensen reported that the Browns were trying to work out a settlement with Kokinis in which he would resign, but that Kokinis refused.
Terms of his contract were never disclosed after Kokinis, handpicked bycoach Eric Mangini, was hired on Jan. 23.
Mangini avoided almost all questions about Kokinis, even though they hadbeen friends for years. Those ties might have been severed in recent weeks.
Kokinis' father, Pete, was Mangini's wrestling coach at Bulkeley High School in Hartford, Conn. Kokinis and Mangini were roommates in a Berea apartment when they broke into the NFL as Browns interns in 1994. Kokinis served on the board of directors of Mangini's foundation.
On Tuesday, Mangini didn't even wish Kokinis well.''Any time a decision like this is made, it is difficult personally and professionally,'' Mangini said. ''George is a friend of mine and I respect him and I wish his family well. I can tell you that for a variety of reasons, things didn't work out.
''You never go into a situation like this with the intention of it notworking out. We felt that organizationally this was the best decision in order to move forward. We have a strong structure in place on both the pro side and the college side and things will continue to operate effectively on a day-to-day basis.''
Mangini tried to discourage further questions on Kokinis, to no avail,but offered little insight with his responses.
Asked if there were legal reasons he wouldn't talk further, Mangini said,''There's really a variety of reasons and I'll just leave it at that.''
Kokinis is the second friend of Mangini to go in the past week, joiningteam operations director Erin O'Brien, Mangini's personal assistant with the New York Jets.
Asked what having two dismissals in the past week said about thestability of the organization, Mangini said: ''We've had one situation where that was the case. I feel like we have a very strong structure in place on the personnel side and I'm confident that day-to-day we'll be able to execute the things that we need to execute.''
