Holmgren’s days in Seattle are winding down

By Chris Cluff  |   Thursday, June 21, 2007  |  Comments( 2 )

Seattle Seahawks
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Is Mike Holmgren the next Bill Cowher? And is Jim Mora the next Mike Holmgren?

Those questions could be answered in the affirmative as soon as next year if Holmgren decides to step down as the Seattle's coach and the Seahawks decide to elevate Mora to the main position.

The possibility of Mora replacing Holmgren leapt immediately to mind when the Seahawks hired Mora to coach the secondary earlier this year. Holmgren has said his coaching future will be determined year to year now, and he also has said he would like another shot at being a coach and general manager. So it would not be surprising to see Holmgren leave Seattle after this season or even in 2009, after his two-year contract extension is up.

If he leaves after the 2007 season, with a year left on his contract, he could follow Cowher's apparent path and sit out a year before returning as coach and GM of another team. Or he could jump straight to another team because his extension is believed to include a stipulation that would allow Holmgren to opt out of his contract if he is offered a position as coach and general manager of another NFL team.

The Seahawks hired Holmgren in both capacities in 1999; but when he failed to build a defense to go with his hand-picked offense, he was forced to surrender his GM duties after the 2002 season.

Last year, Holmgren admitted that he itches to have total control of a franchise again.

"My own ego says that I would like another crack at being a general manager," he told reporters at the league meetings in 2006. "That's something I have been thinking about. We came to Seattle with that, and it wasn't quite like it was going to be. To leave Seattle for just another coaching job, I wouldn't do that. I just want to make sure what I want."

While Holmgren and president Tim Ruskell worked well together in 2005 -- Ruskell's first year in charge -- some differences of opinion and strategy have begun to show up over the past two offseasons.

Last year, the coach was flabbergasted that Ruskell did not put the franchise designation on All-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson and instead used the less-restrictive transition tender to save all of $590,000. Holmgren was very upset when the Minnesota Vikings swept in with a poison-pill offer that the Seahawks couldn't match, and the coach made it clear it was not his fault that Hutch was allowed to leave.

"We probably should have placed the franchise tag on him. But I was not involved in the negotiations," Holmgren told reporters last year. "We thought putting the transition tag on him would put us in a position to sign him to a long-term contract. But it blew up on us. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would lose him."

Holmgren also disagreed with how the Seahawks obtained receiver Nate Burleson, a Minnesota restricted free agent, by using similar poison pills in an obvious retributive strike at the Vikings.

And then there was the trade of Darrell Jackson during draft weekend two months ago. Holmgren obviously was not happy to send his best -- albeit disgruntled -- receiver to the division rival San Francisco 49ers for a fourth-round pick.

While Holmgren didn't publicly oppose Ruskell's decision to be rid of the malcontent receiver, the coach made it clear it was not his preference.

"The organization changed a couple of years ago. A new administration came in, and Tim came in as president," Holmgren said. "He looks at players a certain way, and if you don't really know a player and haven't been with him for a long time, sometimes it is harder to accept certain things. I think that probably happened."

And what will probably happen next is Holmgren's departure, be it next year or the year after.

Earlier this year, he told the NFL Network, "I'm ready. I'm raring to go for this season. I signed a two-year extension, and this is the first of the two years. You've heard it from other coaches in this situation: We take it a year at a time.

"I don't want to short-change the organization," he said, repeating what he said last year. "I think you have to be real honest. As long as I'm fired up and ready to go -- and they want me -- we'll keep going."

But if the fire goes out and Mora is still around, the Seahawks have a ready-made replacement. Ruskell knew Mora from when the two worked together with the Atlanta Falcons; and when Mora was fired by the Falcons earlier this year, Ruskell signed him to coach the Seahawks' defensive backs and gave him the "assistant head coach" title, which means Mora cannot leave for anything less than a head coaching job as long as he is under contract with the Seahawks.

Mora would be a logical choice to succeed Holmgren because the former would keep the focus on the defense without messing with the offense. In Atlanta, Mora ran the West Coast offense, so he probably would be fine keeping offensive coordinator Gil Haskell, which would allow quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to continue in the scheme he has mastered over the past five years.

Of course, if Holmgren returns for the 2008 season and Mora finds another team to run next year, the Seahawks will have to find another potential successor to Holmgren. But that's another story.

Get weekly Seattle Seahawks insight at RealFootball365.com...Make sure to checkout our new "News & Fantasy" section on the upper right-hand side of the homepage.
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About Chris Cluff

Chris Cluff spent 10 years as an editor and sportswriter for The Seattle Times. He was a key figure in the newspaper's coverage of the Seahawks, particularly during their Super Bowl run in 2005. He also has written two books on the Seahawks: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Heart-Pounding, ...
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