Published: Saturday, December 5, 2009
Holmgren interested in returning to Seahawks
Ex-Seahawks coach wants to talk to team about its GM opening
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Former Seattle coach Mike Holmgren is interested in rejoining the Seahawks, but “the situation has to be right.”
RENTON — Only one day after the resignation of the Seahawks president and general manager, the man many fans want to see hired as the replacement had no problem talking about the job Tim Ruskell just vacated.
Mike Holmgren, the Seahawks head coach for 10 years before stepping down following the 2008 season, spoke at length about the team’s front office vacancy during his weekly radio show on KJR 950-AM with Dave Mahler and Hugh Millen.
There was some thought that Holmgren, who also served as the Seahawks general manager during his first four seasons, would avoid the topic Friday, but instead he spent nearly half an hour on topics ranging from Jim Mora’s situation to the future of the quarterback position in Seattle to his first go-around at running the franchise.
“Absolutely, I would like to talk to them,” Holmgren said. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear I would like to go back to work after this season. I didn’t know where. This is a little bit of a surprising development in Seattle, but that is an opening. But I’ve also said this: the people and the team has to want to. The situation has to be right, the opening has to be right. And so that’s why I’ve tried to keep an open mind, not get too emotional about it.”
Indeed Holmgren has not kept it a secret that his year away from football is a sabbatical, not the beginning of his retirement, and he admitted that his ties to the Seattle area make this job make some sense.
“My family is there,” he said. “I have a strong attachment to the city and to my time there, but I also know things change. You never know. The organization has to feel you’re the right fit. So I’m keeping an open mind. Certainly I’d love to talk to Tod (Leiweke) or Paul (Allen) or anybody about that, but I also realize that they’re going to have to go through a process of trying to get the right person, and if the fit is right, then who knows.”
Ah yes, the process. Despite his history in Seattle and status as a likely future Hall of Famer, Holmgren said he would be willing to go through a hiring process just like any other candidate.
“Listen, I’m not such a big shot that I can’t fall in line with everyone else in this thing, but I would also say most of the people know me pretty well and it might not be exactly the same type of interview you’d give somebody else,” he said.
Holmgren still hasn’t said whether he’d prefer to come back as a head coach, a general manager or in a dual role, but if he returns to the Seahawks in a front office role, he would want to be in charge.
“I can say this much for sure, if I have the chance, whatever job that I wind up taking, I don’t want it to be a ceremonial type thing,” he said. “I don’t want to be there with a coat and tie, heaven forbid, and then go over and sit at Barnes and Noble and read books all afternoon. I don’t want to do that. I want to very active in the organization... I don’t have to make every decision in the world, but I absolutely have a vision and have an idea on how an organization should be built. And I wouldn’t have much fun doing it any other way. So I think I would have to be assured that I would have a fair amount of input in the major decisions.”
Whenever Holmgren is discussed as a potential GM candidate, one question that comes up is how one of the best coaches of this era would handle having somebody else calling the shots on game days. Holmgren said that’s something he’ll have to work on if he does indeed return in a non-coaching role.
“That’ll be one of my great challenges I think if I don’t coach anymore,” he said. “Again, I’m trying to keep all doors open, but if I don’t coach anymore and I was just that, then once you make that decision, then absolutely my job would be to support whoever the head coach is. I might not agree with everything they do coaching wise, but hey, I’m not coaching anymore and my job is different.”
As for those who wonder if Holmgren or another GM might want to hire their own coach rather than retain Jim Mora, Holmgren said that as a former coach he doesn’t view it as fair to remove someone after one season.
In addition to discussing his future during the interview, Holmgren also reflected on his past as the Seahawks general manager.
“I wouldn’t change that much,” he said. “I’m sure that just kills some people.”
Holmgren did say there are lessons he learned, however. He talked about having a difficult first draft because there was a combination of people who had been with the organization already and people he brought in. He pointed to the drafting of tight end Jerramy Stevens as an example of reaching in the draft to meet a need rather than picking the best player available.
“I did something I said I’d never do, and I’ll never do it again, and that’s to stretch for need,” he said.
Now the question is whether Holmgren will end up applying those lessons he learned years ago to a second chance in Seattle.
Forsett questionable
Running back Justin Forsett didn’t finish practice after straining his quadriceps muscle, and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the 49ers. Forsett said after practice that he sat out as a precaution, and that he expects to play this week.
“I don’t see it keeping me out,” he said.
Forsett has rushed for more than 100 yards in two of the past three games while filling in for Julius Jones, who was out with a bruised lung. Jones practiced all week and is expected to play, but Mora said he didn’t know which of the two would start.
The Seahawks will likely be without defensive end Cory Redding (concussion) and linebacker D.D. Lewis (knee). Defensive end Lawrence Jackson (groin) and Jones are both listed as probable, as is center Chris Spencer (thumb).
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
Mike Holmgren, the Seahawks head coach for 10 years before stepping down following the 2008 season, spoke at length about the team’s front office vacancy during his weekly radio show on KJR 950-AM with Dave Mahler and Hugh Millen.
There was some thought that Holmgren, who also served as the Seahawks general manager during his first four seasons, would avoid the topic Friday, but instead he spent nearly half an hour on topics ranging from Jim Mora’s situation to the future of the quarterback position in Seattle to his first go-around at running the franchise.
“Absolutely, I would like to talk to them,” Holmgren said. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear I would like to go back to work after this season. I didn’t know where. This is a little bit of a surprising development in Seattle, but that is an opening. But I’ve also said this: the people and the team has to want to. The situation has to be right, the opening has to be right. And so that’s why I’ve tried to keep an open mind, not get too emotional about it.”
Indeed Holmgren has not kept it a secret that his year away from football is a sabbatical, not the beginning of his retirement, and he admitted that his ties to the Seattle area make this job make some sense.
“My family is there,” he said. “I have a strong attachment to the city and to my time there, but I also know things change. You never know. The organization has to feel you’re the right fit. So I’m keeping an open mind. Certainly I’d love to talk to Tod (Leiweke) or Paul (Allen) or anybody about that, but I also realize that they’re going to have to go through a process of trying to get the right person, and if the fit is right, then who knows.”
Ah yes, the process. Despite his history in Seattle and status as a likely future Hall of Famer, Holmgren said he would be willing to go through a hiring process just like any other candidate.
“Listen, I’m not such a big shot that I can’t fall in line with everyone else in this thing, but I would also say most of the people know me pretty well and it might not be exactly the same type of interview you’d give somebody else,” he said.
Holmgren still hasn’t said whether he’d prefer to come back as a head coach, a general manager or in a dual role, but if he returns to the Seahawks in a front office role, he would want to be in charge.
“I can say this much for sure, if I have the chance, whatever job that I wind up taking, I don’t want it to be a ceremonial type thing,” he said. “I don’t want to be there with a coat and tie, heaven forbid, and then go over and sit at Barnes and Noble and read books all afternoon. I don’t want to do that. I want to very active in the organization... I don’t have to make every decision in the world, but I absolutely have a vision and have an idea on how an organization should be built. And I wouldn’t have much fun doing it any other way. So I think I would have to be assured that I would have a fair amount of input in the major decisions.”
Whenever Holmgren is discussed as a potential GM candidate, one question that comes up is how one of the best coaches of this era would handle having somebody else calling the shots on game days. Holmgren said that’s something he’ll have to work on if he does indeed return in a non-coaching role.
“That’ll be one of my great challenges I think if I don’t coach anymore,” he said. “Again, I’m trying to keep all doors open, but if I don’t coach anymore and I was just that, then once you make that decision, then absolutely my job would be to support whoever the head coach is. I might not agree with everything they do coaching wise, but hey, I’m not coaching anymore and my job is different.”
As for those who wonder if Holmgren or another GM might want to hire their own coach rather than retain Jim Mora, Holmgren said that as a former coach he doesn’t view it as fair to remove someone after one season.
In addition to discussing his future during the interview, Holmgren also reflected on his past as the Seahawks general manager.
“I wouldn’t change that much,” he said. “I’m sure that just kills some people.”
Holmgren did say there are lessons he learned, however. He talked about having a difficult first draft because there was a combination of people who had been with the organization already and people he brought in. He pointed to the drafting of tight end Jerramy Stevens as an example of reaching in the draft to meet a need rather than picking the best player available.
“I did something I said I’d never do, and I’ll never do it again, and that’s to stretch for need,” he said.
Now the question is whether Holmgren will end up applying those lessons he learned years ago to a second chance in Seattle.
Forsett questionable
Running back Justin Forsett didn’t finish practice after straining his quadriceps muscle, and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the 49ers. Forsett said after practice that he sat out as a precaution, and that he expects to play this week.
“I don’t see it keeping me out,” he said.
Forsett has rushed for more than 100 yards in two of the past three games while filling in for Julius Jones, who was out with a bruised lung. Jones practiced all week and is expected to play, but Mora said he didn’t know which of the two would start.
The Seahawks will likely be without defensive end Cory Redding (concussion) and linebacker D.D. Lewis (knee). Defensive end Lawrence Jackson (groin) and Jones are both listed as probable, as is center Chris Spencer (thumb).
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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