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
Whoever is playing, I expect them to play well. We want to win the football game. Every time we suit up, we're going after a win. But it is different because you do have certain things wrapped up now.
It's a great story. He has come in this year and done a marvelous job. He is one of 18 children. He has had to battle for his place his whole life. He appreciates everything. He works hard for everything. He doesn't expect anything to be given to him, and I can't say enough about the young guy. Do we miss Ken Hamlin? Certainly we do. But Marquand Manuel has been better than good this season.
Next season, I would expect more from him. I'm always going to push the envelope a little bit, and I think he would expect more from himself.
I expected more from him. We had a nice visit. I think the world of him. I think he is a really good player. I set the bar very high for him. My expectation level for him is high. Any time he falls short of that, fair or not fair, I want to talk to him about it.
I don't expect that and he knows it. He might not throw another one like that. But that was bad.
Where I am impressed even more with him this year is his pass protection,
Wow, great story. That's an area we have to look at, but he certainly has done everything we have asked him to do.
With the numbers he has put up, I think if you don't approach it at the start that way, you're making a huge mistake. He catches 14 balls, 12 balls, 13 balls, that's a lot of passes in a game. Clearly, they want him to be a big part of what they do. ... You better have some sort of answer for playing them or they can make you look pretty bad.
We are going to have to figure out how we're going to deal with a real strong receiver like that.
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.
We have played better than we did tonight. Unfortunately, it's the biggest game of the year.
We'll see, ... Joe, of course, has played, and Hackett hasn't played very much so we'll see. He has certainly worked hard to do this, and I have confidence in him. We'll see how it goes.
Our running back is, I think, pretty good. When I saw him at our meeting today, he said he feels good, he's fine, and unless something happens, I'm assuming he'll be ready to practice on Wednesday.
Our trainers thought it would be good to give him a rest throwing the ball today.