KIRKLAND – One thing Mike Holmgren wants to clear up is that he didn’t teach Jon Gruden the scowl. He doesn’t know where it came from, and he never remembers seeing Gruden’s face scrunch up like that when they worked together in Green Bay.
But the scowl has become Gruden’s trademark.
“I think it sold some of the little dolls. He’s marketed it pretty well,” said Holmgren, who was Gruden’s boss with the Packers from 1992 through ‘94. “But he didn’t always do that.”
When it comes to football, however, Holmgren taught Gruden a lot of what has helped make him a successful head coach.
The two head coaches will square off for the seventh time Sunday when Gruden’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers face Holmgren’s Seattle Seahawks. In six head-to-head meetings, each coach has won all three home games.
If Gruden needs any tips these days, he may want to look toward his former boss. Holmgren knows what it’s like to take a team through some growing pains, as he did during his first few years in Seattle.
Since winning a Super Bowl in his first season with the Buccaneers, Gruden’s team has won just seven of 17 games. Super Bowl rings, it turns out, aren’t so easy to come by.
Holmgren went through a similar transition after leaving the Super Bowl-champion Green Bay Packers for Seattle nearly six years ago. He had some success in his first season as Seahawks coach and general manager, then ran into salary-cap and age problems that forced him to rebuild almost from scratch.
Gruden is in the early stages of that, with the Buccaneers having cut their ties with longtime stars Warren Sapp and John Lynch while rebuilding an offensive line that had gotten long in the tooth.
“There’s a lot of new players on that roster, and some of their great players – Lynch and Sapp – are not on the defense any more,” Holmgren said. “It’s kind of cyclical.
“I would resist in comparing the two (franchises) because they came off winning the Super Bowl, and we were just trying to get started and get going. But teams sometimes go through a period of that.”
Although they will always share a bond, Holmgren and Gruden rarely have time to exchange phone calls during the season. They’ve spoken over the years, but mostly at NFL meetings when both coaches happen to run into each other.
One notable exception was early in 2003, when Gruden’s Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVII. Holmgren was the first person to call him.
“I think he knows that I’ll always consider him a great friend and a primary reason that I’ve had the opportunities that I’ve had,” Gruden said Wednesday.
Gruden is one of four former Holmgren assistants who are serving as head coaches. Two are thriving, two are struggling.
Andy Reid seems to have the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship every year, and Mike Sherman has the Green Bay Packers annually battling for the NFC North title.
Meanwhile, Steve Mariucci is trying to rebuild the Detroit Lions while Gruden tries to keep the Bucs afloat.
“In most instances, when I’m not playing against those guys, I’m rooting for them,” Holmgren said.
Despite his team’s recent struggles – including a 16-10 loss to Washington on Sunday – Gruden is still seen as one of Holmgren’s most successful apprentices. Gruden, who turned 41 last month, credits Holmgren with pushing him to be the best he could be.
“Mike’s really demanding,” Gruden said. “… He was intolerant of errors at any position when I was coaching the receivers. When I was drawing plays on the computer, he wanted the lines drawn a certain way. He wanted premier execution – that was his No. 1 objective in every phase of football – and it rubbed off not only on the players but the coaches.”
Since they worked together, both Holmgren and Gruden have gone through some changes. They each slowly re-built former dynasties – Holmgren in Green Bay, and Gruden in Oakland – before eventually moving on to bigger challenges in long-suffering franchises. Both saw initial success with their new teams but eventually found adversity.
Holmgren, now 56 years old and in his sixth year with the Seahawks, hopes the worst adversity is behind him. He seems to have found his comfort level in Seattle after losing his GM title 20 months ago.
“I think I’m a much better delegator than I was a few years ago. I know I am,” Holmgren said. “But it must equate to wins, you know.
“I said it before and I’ll say it again: my life hasn’t changed that much. I don’t have as large a business card anymore, but I kind of do what I do.”
One thing Holmgren has never developed as a head coach is a trademark sideline persona. Whereas Gruden has the scowl, Holmgren isn’t quite sure what the television cameras catch when they are focused on the Seahawks’ sideline.
“I just pray I don’t scratch or pick or do something,” Holmgren said.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
