Eric Mangini calls Spygate ‘a regret’ and ‘disappointing’

Former NFL head coach Eric Mangini opened up on Wednesday about the Spygate scandal he essentially put in motion by reporting the New England Patriots’ practice to the NFL.

In an interview on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on FOX Sports Radio, Mangini was asked about Spygate and what led him to complain to the league about it back in 2007 when he was head coach of the New York Jets.

“The practice itself, I didn’t think had very much value. But as the head coach of the New York Jets, my responsibility was to, whatever competitive advantage, no matter how small, my job was to make sure that my team had that. And that my team was protected. So I wanted to shut it down if it came to our stadium,” Mangini said.

Mangini’s complaint to the league led to an investigation, which found that the Pats had been illegally taping the signals of opposing teams. The Patriots and Bill Belichick were fined, while the team also lost a first-round draft pick as a penalty.

Mangini was previously a defensive coach for the Pats under Belichick, which is how he knew about the practice. He now says his deteriorated relationship with Belichick is “disappointing” and a “regret” he has.

“The thing with Bill is, I owe him a lot. He taught me football. He read at my wedding. Luke, my middle son, has William as his middle name. We were close. So to have something like this, which wasn’t what it was supposed to be, affect the relationship. It’s disappointing, and it is a regret that I have.”

You can watch video of the interview here:

"It is a regret that I have." — Former Jets head coach Eric Mangini on spygate negatively affecting his relationship with Bill Belichick pic.twitter.com/8MrLdmc4qA

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) September 28, 2016