Patriots

Report: Bill Belichick, Eric Mangini Nearly Had Fistfight After Spygate in 2008

Report: Belichick, Mangini nearly had fistfight in 2008 over Spygate originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The relationship between New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and former New York Jets head coach Eric Mangini during the aftermath of Spygate was not good, to say the least.

In fact, it was so bad that the two men almost got into a physical altercation in 2008.

ESPN's Seth Wickersham has a new book about the Patriots releasing Oct. 12 titled, "It's Better To Be Feared", in which he details an intense scene involving Belichick and Mangini during an NFL event.

Here's an excerpt from the book, via ESPN:

At the 2008 league meetings, Belichick and then-New York Jets head coach Eric Mangini nearly had a fistfight. After a dinner for head coaches, Julie Mangini, wife of Eric, bumped into Belichick and said hi, trying to ease tension after the post-Spygate fallout. Belichick blew her off, and when she told Eric what had happened, he charged across the room and needed to be held back by other coaches from swinging at Belichick. "Hey Bill, f--- you!" Mangini yelled.

The tension between Belichick and Mangini stems from the ex-Jets coach's role in alerting the league about the Patriots illegally videotaping opponents' signals. This, of course, kicked off the Spygate storyline that dominated the 2007 season.

Mangini spent several years on the Patriots staff under Belichick before leaving in 2006 to become the head coach of the Jets. He didn't last long in New York, though, and was fired in 2008 after posting a 23-25 record over three seasons. Mangini got another chance with the Cleveland Browns in 2009 but was fired after two seasons as their head coach.

Belichick, meanwhile, has won three more Super Bowl titles since Spygate and is considered by many to be the greatest coach in league history.

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