Late last week, The MMQB published an interview with San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Eric Mangini. It was included in the Golden Nuggets, but given its late Friday publishing, I thought it was worth pulling it out separately. Mangini was not going to provide Jenny Vrentas with a ton of detail, but there were some interesting nuggets in the interview. I recommend giving the whole thing a read.

On play-calling:

Mangini confirmed that he will handle defensive play-calling. Jim Tomsula has not been a coordinator since his days in NFL Europe, so this is not a surprise. Mangini acknowledged there will be times Tomsula will want to do something specific, and has that prerogative. However, it sounds like Mangini will handle it for the most part. In a previous interview with the beat writers, he said he has not decided if he will be up in the booth or on the sideline. He said he might spend two preseason games in the booth and two on the sideline to see which he prefers.

On coaching the offense:

This was my favorite part. Mangini joined the 49ers as a senior offensive consultant, and then become the tight ends coach. He went into some detail on what he learned while coaching the offense:

It's interesting, when you sit in the meetings and talk about the running game or talk about protections, to hear how some things defensively create problems for the offense. It may be the shade of a defensive lineman, how much of a problem a slight shade can create, and how much of a conversation that can create for the offense. It's really not that big a deal to us on defense, but it's really interesting to hear what a big deal it is to you on offense. Thinking back to those meetings, I was making sure, when I go back to defense, that we create those conversations for opposing coaches.

Other than that, he acknowledged he wants to be a head coach again. He also talked about being a big believer in a flexible defense. This is not exactly an earth-shattering revelation. The 49ers will face a variety of offensive philosophies over the course of the season, so having flexibility in what your defense can do is kind of useful. Mangini also said he wants a defense that is "sound, disciplined, tough, physical, aggressive and smart." So basically, he wants a good defense. Sums it up pretty well.