Mangini still hopes to make up with Belichick 10 years after Spygate

Eric Mangini isn't giving up on one day getting back in touch with his mentor.

Now a decade removed from the Spygate scandal that effectively ended his relationship with the New England Patriots' Bill Belichick, the former NFL head coach is still hoping to patch things up.

"Am I surprised? I hope it's something that can come back," Mangini told ESPN's Rich Cimini when asked about the status of his relationship with the legendary Patriots coach. "Look, Bill is a big part of my life. Bill gave me a tremendous opportunity and I enjoyed that experience and I respect him. It's disappointing, the way it's been. Hopefully, it can change at some point."

Mangini rose through the NFL coaching ranks under Belichick's watch, and it was his work as a Patriots defensive backs coach from 2000-04 and as the club's defensive coordinator in 2005 that earned him his first head coaching job with the New York Jets.

Everything in a once-strong relationship between the two coaches took a turn for the worse in 2007, when the Jets reported Belichick's Patriots to the NFL for filming the sideline signals of their opposition.

Mangini says he still hasn't spoken to Belichick since Spygate.

Explaining that he had simply instructed his staff to keep watch for such tactics in their early-season game, Mangini told ESPN his intention was never to get the league office involved.

"It was never supposed to go the way that it went," Mangini said. "It was more about, 'Hey, don't do this here.' It wasn't about reporting it. Sometimes things get out of hand and get rolling in one direction. It was never, ever supposed to go that way."

Mangini would coach just three seasons with the Jets before being fired. He immediately landed another lead job with the Cleveland Browns in 2009 but was dismissed after a pair of 5-11 seasons.

The 46-year-old resurfaced as a tight ends coach with the San Francisco 49ers in 2013, later moving into the team's defensive coordinator spot for one season in 2015. He's been out of the league ever since.