RENTON — It was Thanksgiving Day, and so Koren Robinson felt the need to give thanks.
Before a nationally-televised game against the Dallas Cowboys, the Seattle Seahawks receiver took time out of his pre-game preparations and told head coach Mike Holmgren how much he appreciated him.
“I just wanted to let him know that,” Robinson said this week, “and what better day than Thanksgiving?”
When it comes to thanking the most successful coach in franchise history, the Seahawks have to talk the talk because they haven’t walked the walk. Their 60-year-old head coach will be leaving the team after three more games, and the carry-him-out-of-town-as-a-winner scenario has long since evaporated.
“For him to go out like this, it’s tough,” Robinson said, referring to the Seahawks’ 2-11 season. “I feel bad for him. I wish there was more that I could do, but I can’t.”
Holmgren’s last season in Seattle has certainly not gone the way of his first nine. He is the franchise’s career leader in victories (88), division titles (five) and playoff appearances (six). His teams have one more playoff win (four) than the franchise had when he arrived in 1999.
And yet, Holmgren will go out on a flat note.
“It’s tough,” said defensive tackle Rocky Bernard, whose entire seven-year career has been under Holmgren. “It’s not the season we’re used to. We really wanted to go out on top this year, but it didn’t work out for him.”
Through it all — the Seahawks are currently mired in a six-game losing streak — Holmgren has kept a stiff upper lip. The only time he has publicly shown his emotions came after Sunday’s 24-21 loss to New England, when the 6-foot-5 coach nearly broke into tears while discussing how hard his team fought.
Holmgren said on Wednesday that one of his most important tasks this season has been keeping his emotions in tact because the players are watching his every move.
“Believe me that inside, it’s painful. It’s difficult,” he said of a season that has been plagued by injuries and losing streaks. “But they have to know that I’m not going to leave them. They have to know that I’m going to battle until the end.”
Both Bernard and Robinson said that the best way to honor Holmgren as the season winds down is to keep fighting until the final bell.
“The games are going to be the way they’re going to be, but we’ve got to keep battling hard on Sundays,” Robinson said. “And I feel like that’s all we can really do. As long as we don’t give up on him, that’s all he can ask for.”
Said Bernard: “We still want to send him out on a good note, just because of all the work he put in to turn the team around.”
When Holmgren arrived in 1999, he had a sparkling reputation as one of the best coaches in the league. His stay in Seattle has done little to tarnish that image.
Even the Seahawks’ most bitter rivals have gained respect for him, as St. Louis Rams receiver Torry Holt admitted in a Wednesday conference call with Seahawks reporters.
Holt said he does not want to see Holmgren retire, adding that the coach’s passion on the sideline has always been noticed.
“Excuse my French, but I’ll use some of his language, I just like how (expletive) competitive he is,” Holt said. “Some people may say he’s a (jerk), but I like his (jerk)-ness.”
Asked why he was using such frank language, Holt said he was speaking Holmgren-ese.
“Haven’t you seen him on the sideline cussing and fussing?” Holt said. “He tries to put that play-calling thing over his face, but he’s just spitting everywhere.
“No, I like coach Holmgren. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
Of course, respect for Holmgren is highest within the Seattle locker room.
“He’s had all this success with Seattle, four or five championships and the Super Bowl in ‘05,” Robinson said. “I think this (season) will just be a little blip; that’s my opinion. Then you look at what he did in Green Bay? I mean, the guy’s a good coach. He knows what he’s doing.”
Seahawks defensive back Jordan Babineaux said that Holmgren’s first nine years in Seattle are likely to overshadow his final one.
“It’s pretty difficult for him because he’s been through the good, the bad and the ugly throughout his tenure as coach here,” Babineaux said. “He built the thing up, and the past four or five years we’ve been playoff-bound and Super Bowl-caliber. So it’s certainly been a tough (year) for everyone.”
The tough year won’t bring Holmgren back, however. The coach said Wednesday that he’s still planning to take a year off and then re-evaluate his future plans, even if that means leaving the Seahawks on a bad note.
“The nature of my personality and the jobs I’ve had in the NFL, every instinct I have right now is to try and say how to fix this for next year,” Holmgren said. “But it’s not going to be my call. So I’m having to fight those urges just a little bit.
“But that’s how my mind’s working — one side of my brain, I should say. The other side of my brain, (wife) Kathy’s sitting on this shoulder going, ‘No. No. No. Come with me.’”
Depending on how one looks at it, Holmgren will be stepping away at either the best or worst time. All he knows is that the future will be in good hands.
“I think we worked very, very hard to make this a great place,” Holmgren said Wednesday. “I don’t think that’s going to change now. This is a great place: the (new practice facility), the stadium, the city, the owner (Paul Allen).
“This should be a very successful place in the National Football League. I just see that going forward.”
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