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.
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.
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.
Matt had a great season two years ago. He had a good season last year. But we need him to be great for us to reach our goal, ... He should be among the top five quarterbacks every year.
If this were to be his last game, then I'm really glad I was here. He has nothing to prove to anybody.
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.
We just changed some of our packages so it gets to be seen more. Plus, everybody knows that this could be my last year here so everybody is kind of paying attention to everything.
He's worked very hard. He's bought in. He hasn't given up when it seemed a little grim at times in the last couple of years.
Our depth in the secondary was not good last year.
Our depth in the secondary, particularly with our nickel back and dime back coming in, was not good last year, ... I'm glad we have Kelly Herndon. One thing about Kelly, he'll battle you. He'll physically play the game with you, and that's what you need, what you want.
The plays were good plays, and I think we prepared properly. But really it's about the players making plays and making the catch and blocking. And when they do that, you look pretty good as a signal-caller.
The only thing I can think of (for the Steelers being favored) is that they beat Indianapolis, which was a huge win for them. Indy was having a great, great year and is a great football team. And that popped Pittsburgh, as it should.
When you look at the two teams, (the Patriots) have been in more situations like this and they are more experienced than we are. They are a very veteran and smart team, and that's our goal, to get there. What I have to do is get our guys to believe they can be there. I believe we're going to be a better football team at the end of the year than we are right now because each game our young guys get better.
The only statistic that counts is the score at the end of the game. Give credit to the Steelers. They're a tough team to play against.