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
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.
Our guys are ready to handle this (game) maybe better than they have handled it in the past. It's coming from the feeling I get when I go down in the locker room, and the feeling I get on the airplane and different things. They're having fun playing. The cynics aren't around here so much anymore.
It's a move that he's handled very well. He's a good enough player to do that.
Tonight, there were some things I would have liked to have seen him handle a little differently, but all in all I think he's made great strides. There were a couple of formation things and a couple of audible checks. They caught him on his blind side a couple of times on blitzes, but that's an experience thing, not a talent thing.
The tough thing in this league about playing the linebacker position is that as a rookie you are seeing many things for the first time and you are going against athletes that you didn't always play against when you were in college. The physical part of it is tough, but they have handled that beautifully. Then it was just a matter if they could handle the volumes of material that are expanded a little bit when you get into our league.
As I've told the team, ultimately you'll be judged by what happens and where you are at the end of the season. I understand why we are the underdogs, and there's really only one way to handle that. That's not by talking, it's by playing the game and seeing what happens.
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.
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.
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.