SEATTLE – He used to be the first person NFL executives would call.
Whenever a job opening popped up at the top of a respective team’s coaching ladder, Mike Holmgren would get the first call.
They weren’t so much gauging his interest as they were looking for help from a group that came to be known as Holmgren’s Heroes.
From Steve Mariucci to Marty Mornhinweg, Holmgren saw six of his former assistant coaches get hired between 1997 and 2001. Some had success (Tampa Bay’s Jon Gruden and Philadelphia’s Andy Reid took their teams to a Super Bowl), at least one fell on his face (Mornhinweg lasted just two seasons in Detroit) and three are current candidates for head coaching positions after getting fired at the previous jobs (Mike Sherman, Dick Jauron and Mariucci).
The group had enough success that ESPN taped a 2002 special with all seven coaches – Holmgren included – and called it “Holmgren’s Heroes.” At the time, Holmgren expressed pride in his former assistants but lamented about the inability to keep a staff together.
That hasn’t been a problem during his tenure in Seattle.
If there has been a silver lining to the Seahawks’ mediocre records during the first six years of the Holmgren era, it’s that he has finally been able to maintain some consistency among his assistants.
And it’s paying off.
“I’m proud of the job they’ve done,” Holmgren said. “They’re good communicators, good teachers, and the players have responded very, very well.”
They might not make any tackles, score any touchdowns or even stand in front of the throngs of reporters that have been descending on Kirkland this week, but the Seahawks’ assistant coaches are just as big a part of the memorable season as Holmgren or Shaun Alexander or Matt Hasselbeck.
“They get overlooked,” Holmgren said. “For assistants in this league, that happens to a lot of them. But my staff is outstanding. They really are.”
Outsiders probably recognize some of the more high-profile assistants, like defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes, offensive coordinator Gil Haskell and even linebackers coach John Marshall, who has assumed many of Rhodes’ coordinating duties this year. Others, like quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn, receivers coach Nolan Cromwell and running backs coach Stump Mitchell, might be remembered for their playing days.
But as a group, Seattle’s staff of assistant coaches is often overlooked when people are looking for reasons for the team’s success.
“They do a lot of stuff behind the scenes that a lot of people don’t see,” offensive lineman Walter Jones said. “They get the game film ready, get us ready for practice, and you talk to them all the time. They have a great deal invested in what’s going on right now.”
There’s a lot people don’t know about NFL assistants, starting with the fact that they put in an astonishing number of hours. Like 100 per week. Sometimes more.
“I think everybody gets tired, but you fight through it,” said tight ends coach Jim Lind, who has been an assistant under Holmgren since 1992. “At the end of the week, you freshen up, and by Sunday you’re ready to go.”
A typical Seahawks assistant coach arrives at the team’s Kirkland practice facility at around 5:30 a.m. – often earlier than that, for those who want to sneak in a quick workout. Through film sessions, meetings, practice sessions and even more film sessions, the assistant coaches usually file out of the office around 10 p.m. On Fridays and Saturdays, the schedule lets up a bit, affording the coaches more manageable workdays of about eight or nine hours.
“You have to love the game, and then the hours don’t really mean that much,” said Mitchell, who played nine seasons with the Cardinals when they were in both St. Louis and Phoenix. “You’re constantly busy doing something. It’s not like you’re sitting around twiddling your thumbs with nothing to do. You’re always trying to find a different way or a different formation. There’s always film studying to do.”
Assistant coaches serve as the buffer between the head coach and players. If Holmgren doesn’t like the way Jerramy Stevens runs a pattern, he might have a few choice words for Stevens, but most of his ire is directed at Lind. If defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs has a question about playing time, he’s probably going to talk to defensive line coach Dwaine Board before he gets Holmgren’s ear.
The duties of every assistant are different.
Rhodes, along with Marshall this season, probably has the most easily-understood job description in that he is responsible for the entire defensive game plan. Because Holmgren is more of an offense-minded coach, the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator is almost like the head coach of the defense.
As offensive coordinator, Haskell has slightly different duties. He helps Holmgren come up with a game plan and is also responsible for running practices.
Special teams coach Bob Casullo is a little like a coordinator as well in that he is in charge of that unit until Holmgren feels the need to get involved.
The rest of the assistants are essentially position coaches. As running backs coach, Mitchell has helped Shaun Alexander and Mack Strong develop into Pro Bowlers. Zorn has had a similar effect on Matt Hasselbeck while coaching the quarterbacks.
While most of their work is done behind the scenes, Seattle’s assistant coaches don’t mind the unappreciated nature of their time-consuming jobs.
“As far as being in the forefront,” Mitchell said, “we’ve had our day in the sun.”
Mitchell’s day – or nine seasons, as the case may be – included so much success that he still ranks as the Cardinals’ all-time leader in career total yardage (11,988, including rushing, receiving and return yards). But one thing he never did before last weekend was to be on a team that won a playoff game.
“That was definitely the biggest game I’ve been associated with in professional football,” Mitchell said. “And this one (today against the Carolina Panthers) is twice as big as the one we played in last week.”
Without much fanfare, Seattle’s assistants have been important factors in Seattle’s success this season. And they’ve got the time cards to prove it.
“It makes all the years of hard work worth it,” Lind said. “There’s a feeling of great satisfaction when you get to a point where you have some opportunities.”
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