Mike Holmgren
Mike Holmgren
Michael George Holmgrenis a former American football coach and executive, most recently serving as president of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. Holmgren began his NFL career as a quarterbacks' coach and later as an offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers, where they won Super Bowl XXIII and XXIV. He served as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1992 to 1998, appearing in two Super Bowls, and of the Seattle Seahawks from 1999 to...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth15 June 1948
CitySan Francisco, CA
I talk about that a lot. I think if you asked one of my players, they'd probably tell you I kill them with that stuff. Just being careful. It's the last thing I told them Sunday night after we broke from the stadium after the game. After this incident, it gave me another opportunity because they were listening. I mean for the guys who kind of tuned me out before, now I had everybody listening and we talked about it, which, I think, is my responsibility as a coach. You know these guys are my family, and it would be like talking to your own kids, you don't want bad things to happen to them so let's try to help them a little bit.
Wow, great story. That's an area we have to look at, but he certainly has done everything we have asked him to do.
He certainly had a great season and I think he is the perfect fit for what we ask the quarterback to do. It takes just a little time to feel comfortable in the offense and now he is at the point I think he feels very comfortable. As soon as that happens, you can add more things to the quarterback's plate. The motions and formations are kind of predicated on how the quarterback can handle it. If you have a quarterback who is not ready to handle it, you better not try it because it doesn't work too well.
What we're asking him to do is difficult, ... A rookie middle linebacker calling the signals, there's nothing easy about that. His plate is full. But if anyone can handle it, of the young people I've seen in the last few years, he can.
I asked the team if it was OK if we give Ray this week's ball, and they were very happy to do that. He was upstairs, and he minded the doctors' orders, pretty much.
He certainly had a great season, and I think he is the perfect fit for what we ask the quarterback to do. It just takes a little time to feel comfortable in the offense, and now he is at the point he's very comfortable.
I was afraid I was going to break furniture and throw the monitor out the window. It's just hard because we had our chances and we didn't capitalize.
I think we made a little mistake last year not throwing him in there sooner. He would have struggled a little bit, but when he did play, he was very good.
I think we have to wait on that. Let's just wait on that to make sure that what is written and what is said is correct.
I think that can be overstated just a little bit. If you have a very untalented guy who is a high-effort guy, you are going to lose every week. You like them like that, but the better player is going to win more games for you. The trick is finding those guys that are really fine football players and really don't think they are that great; they are always trying to get better.
I think it was necessary, and now in retrospect, I'm glad I did it.
It happens, because now you're down to one game, and anything can happen in any one game. But I think if you look over percentages over the last however many years, most of the times the guys that are playing at home have the advantage. So we're choosing to look at it that way.
I thanked him for allowing the coaches to build something. In such a volatile industry, you don't always get that.
I think the world of him and I think he is a really good football player. I set the bar very high for him. Anytime he falls short of that, fair or not fair, I will talk to him about it. He is a wonderful guy ... and he wants to do well. To go with his physical ability, all the things you have to do to be a great player, it should happen for him.