CaptainAmerica
03-30-2006, 03:12 PM
...SIAP, but I didn't see it. Here is an interesting article from Fox Sports.
Note the last paragraph...
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Holmgren Weighing His Options
John Czarnecki / FOXSports.com
Posted: 22 hours ago
ORLANDO - Mike Holmgren made it very clear that he doesn't know what his future holds in Seattle. Contractually, this is his last season as the Seahawks head coach and he said Wednesday morning that in the next three weeks he hopes to make a decision on whether to sign an extension or possibly coach one last season and then become an unrestricted free agent.
"My own ego says that I would like another crack at being a general manager," Holmgren said. "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 and I certainly want to be fair to Paul (Allen, owner of the Seahawks). I've asked them to give me some time on this."
Holmgren lost his GM title with the Seahawks, who placed Tim Ruskell in that position this past season. Ruskell and Holmgren's Green Bay friend, Mike Reinfeldt, handle the football and contractual affairs of the Seahawks. During the season, the relationship was a solid one. But one or both of those men made a major mistake by not placing the franchise tag on All-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson, who was lost to the Minnesota Vikings because of a clause that dictated that the player must become the highest-paid player on Seattle's team, a distinction held by left tackle Walter Jones.
"We probably should have placed the franchise tag on him," Holmgren said. "But I was not involved in the negotiations. 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. Steve always made it clear to me he liked Seattle."
But the Seahawks were outflanked by Hutchinson's agent, Tom Condon, who came up with the unique clause and the contract's language was approved by the NFL's special master. Basically, had Seattle matched Minnesota's deal, the Seahawks would have been forced to guarantee Hutchinson his entire $49 million contract. It was a maneuver that Condon, Hutchinson and the Vikings knew was financially impossible for Seattle to accomplish.
Seattle responded days later by signing Vikings receiver Nate Burleson to a long-term contract, invoking wild poison pill clauses that basically ensured that Minnesota couldn't match its offer.
"That was very distasteful to me, to retaliate so to speak like that (against the Vikings)," Holmgren said. "I do believe the commissioner should look into these kind of clauses. We work so hard on trying to gain labor peace and a new collective bargaining agreement and then we as clubs allow agents to get cute and circumvent it. On the playing field there are rules and there are unwritten rules about how the game should be played in the spirit and the fairness of it all. It doesn't make sense to me that we had to lose such a fine football player this way. I was surprised by the ruling."
But back to his future, Holmgren said he doesn't necessarily have "it square in my own mind" what exactly he wants to do.
He plans to talk it out with his wife, Kathy, and discuss his options. The NFL's highest-paid coach mentioned returning to teaching ("I know it doesn't pay well, but I've saved some money") or possibly becoming more involved in one of his daughters' Christian colleges in the Chicago area. Emily, one of Holmgren's four daughters, is married to a minister.
Holmgren will be 58 in June and he said his wife had hoped that he would have won Super Bowl XL and then retired. "She wanted me to ride off on a white horse," he said. "But her main concern is my health. She's very much my partner in all this stuff. We've been married 35 years. If I am feeling good and still have the fire to coach, then I should do that, she thinks."
To this day, Holmgren continues to question some of the officiating calls from the 21-10 loss to the Steelers.
"To have the story of the Super Bowl be the officials, that was crazy," Holmgren said. "I was more angry and frustrated by some of the calls that I was devastated."
Holmgren said the officiating was only a very small part of why he left the league's powerful competition committee. "I hadn't seen my wife in a month-and-a-half and I just didn't want to spend a week in Naples, Fla. Reviewing rules and everything," he said.
Holmgren would like to see more consistency in officiating, but he's not in favor of Jon Gruden's proposal to allow coaches to review penalties as a part of instant replay.
"We should not challenge their judgments in that fashion," he said.
Holmgren said he won't be fined for his comment at a Seattle pep rally after the Super Bowl he joked to the crowd, "We knew it was going to be tough going against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn't know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well."
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said Wednesday afternoon that he had a letter on his desk recommending that Holmgren be fined, but that the two spoke this morning and Tagliabue decided against such action.
"Often, the first draft of a letter should go in the waste basket," Tagliabue said.
Some of Seattle's assistant coaches rank in the bottom third of club compensation and many feel they were offered only token raises after the Super Bowl loss to Pittsburgh. Consequently, there are some unusual dynamics going on within the Seattle coaching staff and with Holmgren at the moment.
But the most fascinating result of Holmgren's decision to play out his contract could put him an enviable position. Despite the defeat to Pittsburgh, he remains one of the sport's elite coaches. He could name his price as a GM/head coach. And you can bet the first rumor to surface will have Holmgren headed to Dallas to replace Bill Parcells in 2007 or 2008. And if that doesn't hold water, how about Holmgren heading a potential new franchise in Los Angeles?
Note the last paragraph...
************************************************** ********
Holmgren Weighing His Options
John Czarnecki / FOXSports.com
Posted: 22 hours ago
ORLANDO - Mike Holmgren made it very clear that he doesn't know what his future holds in Seattle. Contractually, this is his last season as the Seahawks head coach and he said Wednesday morning that in the next three weeks he hopes to make a decision on whether to sign an extension or possibly coach one last season and then become an unrestricted free agent.
"My own ego says that I would like another crack at being a general manager," Holmgren said. "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 and I certainly want to be fair to Paul (Allen, owner of the Seahawks). I've asked them to give me some time on this."
Holmgren lost his GM title with the Seahawks, who placed Tim Ruskell in that position this past season. Ruskell and Holmgren's Green Bay friend, Mike Reinfeldt, handle the football and contractual affairs of the Seahawks. During the season, the relationship was a solid one. But one or both of those men made a major mistake by not placing the franchise tag on All-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson, who was lost to the Minnesota Vikings because of a clause that dictated that the player must become the highest-paid player on Seattle's team, a distinction held by left tackle Walter Jones.
"We probably should have placed the franchise tag on him," Holmgren said. "But I was not involved in the negotiations. 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. Steve always made it clear to me he liked Seattle."
But the Seahawks were outflanked by Hutchinson's agent, Tom Condon, who came up with the unique clause and the contract's language was approved by the NFL's special master. Basically, had Seattle matched Minnesota's deal, the Seahawks would have been forced to guarantee Hutchinson his entire $49 million contract. It was a maneuver that Condon, Hutchinson and the Vikings knew was financially impossible for Seattle to accomplish.
Seattle responded days later by signing Vikings receiver Nate Burleson to a long-term contract, invoking wild poison pill clauses that basically ensured that Minnesota couldn't match its offer.
"That was very distasteful to me, to retaliate so to speak like that (against the Vikings)," Holmgren said. "I do believe the commissioner should look into these kind of clauses. We work so hard on trying to gain labor peace and a new collective bargaining agreement and then we as clubs allow agents to get cute and circumvent it. On the playing field there are rules and there are unwritten rules about how the game should be played in the spirit and the fairness of it all. It doesn't make sense to me that we had to lose such a fine football player this way. I was surprised by the ruling."
But back to his future, Holmgren said he doesn't necessarily have "it square in my own mind" what exactly he wants to do.
He plans to talk it out with his wife, Kathy, and discuss his options. The NFL's highest-paid coach mentioned returning to teaching ("I know it doesn't pay well, but I've saved some money") or possibly becoming more involved in one of his daughters' Christian colleges in the Chicago area. Emily, one of Holmgren's four daughters, is married to a minister.
Holmgren will be 58 in June and he said his wife had hoped that he would have won Super Bowl XL and then retired. "She wanted me to ride off on a white horse," he said. "But her main concern is my health. She's very much my partner in all this stuff. We've been married 35 years. If I am feeling good and still have the fire to coach, then I should do that, she thinks."
To this day, Holmgren continues to question some of the officiating calls from the 21-10 loss to the Steelers.
"To have the story of the Super Bowl be the officials, that was crazy," Holmgren said. "I was more angry and frustrated by some of the calls that I was devastated."
Holmgren said the officiating was only a very small part of why he left the league's powerful competition committee. "I hadn't seen my wife in a month-and-a-half and I just didn't want to spend a week in Naples, Fla. Reviewing rules and everything," he said.
Holmgren would like to see more consistency in officiating, but he's not in favor of Jon Gruden's proposal to allow coaches to review penalties as a part of instant replay.
"We should not challenge their judgments in that fashion," he said.
Holmgren said he won't be fined for his comment at a Seattle pep rally after the Super Bowl he joked to the crowd, "We knew it was going to be tough going against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn't know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well."
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said Wednesday afternoon that he had a letter on his desk recommending that Holmgren be fined, but that the two spoke this morning and Tagliabue decided against such action.
"Often, the first draft of a letter should go in the waste basket," Tagliabue said.
Some of Seattle's assistant coaches rank in the bottom third of club compensation and many feel they were offered only token raises after the Super Bowl loss to Pittsburgh. Consequently, there are some unusual dynamics going on within the Seattle coaching staff and with Holmgren at the moment.
But the most fascinating result of Holmgren's decision to play out his contract could put him an enviable position. Despite the defeat to Pittsburgh, he remains one of the sport's elite coaches. He could name his price as a GM/head coach. And you can bet the first rumor to surface will have Holmgren headed to Dallas to replace Bill Parcells in 2007 or 2008. And if that doesn't hold water, how about Holmgren heading a potential new franchise in Los Angeles?