Staff changes up to Mangini

Browns president Mike Holmgren said any changes in assistant coaches would be up to Eric Mangini.

Holmgren was speaking on a conference call for the first time since he decided to retain Mangini Thursday. The only coach who won't be back at the present is receivers coach George McDonald, who was hired by Rutgers last week.

''That will be Eric's call. He's going through that right now,'' Holmgren said of the coaching staff. ''He was pleased with how the guys did this year. That's not to say if someone became available that a change might take place.

''All in all, I think we're still a little bit away from that. As of right now, things are pretty much as they were last year. There could be a couple changes, though, down the road, but not yet.''

Holmgren said there may be a couple other front office positions he hopes to fill. Hired Monday were general manager Tom Heckert and executive vice president of business operations Bryan Wiedmeier.

''If possible I'm looking at how the organization was set up, if I could streamline a little bit,'' he said. ''There are a couple positions we could categorize in operations. There are a couple things in the business side that I'm looking at. Bryan just got here today. We're going to sit down in the next couple days and go over that with a fine-tooth comb and see how he wants to set it up as well.

''It was very important to get these two men in place because in the organizational chart they're two of the three or four who will report directly to me and who have a lot of responsibility throughout the organization.''