Holmgren, Mike

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Mike Holmgren

1948-

American football coach

Mike Holmgren has been a NFL head coach since 1992. During his time with the Green Bay Packers, he earned a reputation as one of the game's great strategists, leading the Packers to two Super Bowls, winning the big game in 1997. He is now the coach of the Seattle Seahawks, where he has been unable to repeat his winning performance in Green Bay.

A Teacher and Coach

As a teenager in San Francisco, Holmgren was a star athlete at Lincoln High School. He was an all-city quarterback, president of his class, and, during his senior year, the best football player in the state of California. Holmgren's father was a real-estate sales person and a former semipro football player.

Holmgren attended the University of Southern California from 1966 to 1970. At the school, he played football and dreamed of a career as a quarterback, but injuries prevented him from having more than a backup role with the Trojans. In 1970, he was an eighth-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals, and then played briefly with the New York Jets. He quickly realized that he did not have a future as a player, so he became certified as a teacher and married his wife Kathy, whom he had known since he was 13 years old.

In 1971, Holmgren taught history and coached football at his alma mater, Lincoln High School, then taught and coached at Sacred Heart, a private high school in

San Francisco, from 1972-75. He taught history, mechanical drawing, and economics, and coached the football team. Although Holmgren eventually moved entirely into coaching, he retained the belief that teaching was the foundation of all coaching, and even as an NFL coach, he continued to think of himself as a teacher who just happened to be a coach. Holmgren's history keeps him grounded. He remarked to Dan Daley of the Washington Times, "[Being a high school coach before becoming an NFL coach] teaches you to appreciate a little more the things that are available on this level. When you've had to count jocks or worry about some little freshman forgetting his mouthpiece, when you've had to ride on buses … it just makes you more grateful for what we have here in the NFL."

In 1975, Holmgren moved on to teach and coach at Oak Grove, a school in the San Diego area, before taking a leave of absence in 1980 to work as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at San Francisco State University. His family of six was so poor that they lived in a one-room apartment. This poverty ended when Holmgren became quarterbacks coach at Brigham Young University from 1982 to 1985.

In 1986, Holmgren moved on to become quarterbacks coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Bill Walsh, who hired him, told Paul Attner in the Sporting News that he was aware that Holmgren's experience as a coach was limited. However, Walsh noted, "He had an outstanding football mind, he had excellent communication skills, he had a natural easy-going but assertive personality, and he proved to be a hands-on guy who was an excellent teacher. The consummate coach."

Holmgren was quarterbacks coach for the 49ers from 1986 to 1988, and offensive coordinator from 1989 to 1991. During his tenure, San Francisco won the Super Bowl in 1989 and 1990. In 1990, Holmgren received head coaching offers from both the New York Jets and the St. Louis Cardinals. He and his wife, who are both deeply religious, felt that these jobs were simply not right. "We were convinced God had a plan for our lives," Kathy Holmgren told Attner. They decided to wait and see what else came along.

Head Coach of Green Bay

When Holmgren was offered the position of head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1992, he took it. The Packers, who had done poorly through the 1970s and 1980s, were still shadowed by the memory of their past great coach, Vince Lombardi , and it seemed that no one would ever bring them back to the level of greatness they had enjoyed under his guidance during the 1960s. Five coaches had come and gone since Lombardi; Holmgren was the sixth. When he arrived in Green Bay, he told the players that he would expect a lot from them, but if they worked as he told them, they would win. They had an 8-2 record during his first season and made the playoff in his second for the first time since 1982.

Under Holmgren, the Packers added some stellar players: outstanding quarterback Brett Favre and defensive end Reggie White. White, like Holmgren, was very religious, and said he was waiting for a sign from God to join the Packers; when Holmgren heard this, according to Attner, he left a message on White's answering machine, saying "Reggie, this is God. Go to Green Bay." White went.

In The Sporting News, Attner wrote that under Holmgren, "for the first time since the 1960s the Packers have a coach who has nudged aside, albeit just slightly, Vince Lombardi's still-intense aura and carved out some turf of his own." Lombardi was noted for his tough, bullying manner; Holmgren treated his players with more respect. As Attner noted, "Holmgren disliked being called too nice to coach an NFL team, but he at least directs his cooperation using reasonable tough love."

Holmgren rose to the top of his profession in 1997, leading the Packers to a 35-21 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. Green Bay returned to the big game the next year, but lost to the Denver Broncos.

Head Coach and General Manager of Seattle Seahawks

In January of 1999, Holmgren, who had long wanted an opportunity to be both general manager and coach of a team, became the head coach and general manager of the Seattle Seahawks, with an eight-year, $32-million contract. The team had a 9-7 season in 1999 under Holmgren's leadership. However, by October of 2001, the Seahawks had lost 17 of 25 games, including losing in the first round of the 1999 playoffs and 10 of 16 games in 2000. It was the first losing season of Holmgren's 15-year career with the NFL, and according to Michael Silver in Sports Illustrated, Holmgren was unsure how to handle losing. "When that negativity permeates the locker room, it can become a cancer," Seahawks linebacker Chad Brown revealed to Silver. "Once certain guys decided he had crossed the line and had said some things they felt weren't appropriate, they sort of shut him off."

In 2001, Holmgren got rid of several veterans, replacing them with inexperienced players and older free agents. Derrick Mayes, who played for Holmgren both in Green Bay and in Seattle, told Silver, "He came to Seattle because he wanted to run the whole show. Well, be careful what you wish for, because you could be neck deep in responsibility."

Chronology

1948	Born in San Francisco, California
1966-70	Played football for University of Southern California
1970-71	Played with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Jets
1972-80	Teaches and coaches at several high schools in California
1981	Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, San Francisco State University
1982-85	Quarterbacks coach, Brigham Young University
1986-91	Quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, San Francisco 49ers
1992-98	Head coach, Green Bay Packers
1999-2002	Head coach/general manager, Seattle Seahawks
2002	Resigns from general manager position, but remains head coach of Seahawks

Awards and Accomplishments

1989	San Francisco 49ers win Super Bowl
1990	San Francisco 49ers win Super Bowl
1997	Green Bay Packers win Super Bowl
1998	Green Bay Packers play in Super Bowl, but lose to Denver Broncos

The Seahawks had a 7-9 season in 2002, and late in December of 2002, Holmgren resigned from his position as general manager of the team, saying he would remain as head coach. In a press conference posted on the Seahawks' Web site, he said that this change would allow him to be freed "just a little bit from the nuts and bolts and daily grind of the general manager field and spend more time on coaching. I just care about doing the best we can and winning some more games," he said.

Unlike many other coaches, Holmgren has a full life outside the stadium, spending time with his family. Holmgren, who is of Swedish descent, told Attner, "With Swedes, the dinner table is very important. Growing up with my parents and grandparents, we would use the dinner table to discuss world problems. Everyone said their piece. My four girls are very verbal. I have to raise my hand to get in a word." Holmgren insists on having Friday nights free to spend with his wife. He told Attner that when he began coaching, he decided that he would never let his job disrupt his marriage, and that he would never take himself too seriously. "I'd like to think I have done a good job with both," he said.