Q: Mrs. Mangini, are you surprised by your husband's success as a head coach in the NFL with the Jets but his lack of success last year with the Browns?
A: Honestly, I'm not here to talk about the past. It's a new year, and I'm totally focused on this year.
Q: Sounds familiar. Does the way Coach Belichick of the Patriots treats your husband make you want to go out and kick his wife in the shins?
A: Well, Mrs. B and I are two competitors who really want to be successful, and sometimes maybe the competitiveness used to create some tension between us. But I really try to focus on what I can control, and I cannot control Mrs. B. Besides, her and Coach are now divorced, so I guess we've got one of those "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" things going on.
Q: What's the best thing about being married to a football coach?
A: Well, football is a lot like life, and so Eric and I talk a lot about the Browns core values and we've incorporated a lot of those values into our home.
Q: What would be a core value that applies at home?
A: Well, one of the Browns key core values is “Finish Well.” Apply that to, well, oh, serving dinner. Often, people get to the end of dinner and lose focus, forgetting to put the dishes away, wipe down the table, or load and start the dishwasher. So when Eric finishes eating dinner with us on one of those precious few nights he is home with us during the season, he'll stand up and say, “Okay, gather around everyone. Let's finish well, tonight, on three. Ready. One, two, three—FINISH WELL ! And the kids and I spring into action to get the dining and kitchen room cleaned up while he goes to rest in his “Big Easy” chair. He really is an amazing motivator and I'm so lucky to be married to him.
Q: I guess so. Thanks for allowing me to interview you.
I did not tell Mrs. Mangini when I interviewed her by phone that I was wearing my New York Jets pajama bottoms.