Holmgren meets with Browns for 2d day

[Badgerinmaine]

Mike Holmgren might come out of retirement to try to rebuild the Cleveland Browns:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/12664937/holmgren-talking-to-browns-about-taking-over-football-ops

CBS reports that he has had two days of meetings with the Browns.

[MJZiggy]

What for????? I mean...Cleveland?

[Guiness]

He had a good situation in Seattle, hard to see him leaving that for the mess that is Cleveland.

Only thing I can see is that he wants another crack at GM duties, and they're offering it to him? He had that taken away from him in Seattle, he was only the coach there the past couple of years.

[sharpe1027]

He had a good situation in Seattle, hard to see him leaving that for the mess that is Cleveland.

Only thing I can see is that he wants another crack at GM duties, and they're offering it to him? He had that taken away from him in Seattle, he was only the coach there the past couple of years.

$$$$

[Guiness]

A quick google and look around (I swear I didn't before posting above) says he's looking at a 'czar' job, i.e. running the whole show over in Cleveland.

[Patler]

The GM position in Seattle is also open. A little voice in the back of my mind tells me that Holmgren is negotiating with Cleveland to up the pressure on and eventual offer from Seattle.

Holmgren has acknowledged time and again that he is a west coast guy. Why would he want to go to Cleveland when the Seattle job is probably his if he wants it?

[Fritz]

I thought Holmgren's performance as GM was unsatisfactory to the mucky mucks, and so they removed him from that spot? Or was it that he was having too difficult of a time wearing two hats?

[pbmax]

What for????? I mean...Cleveland?

What's wrong with Cleveland?

[sheepshead]

The guy was a terrible GM and a highly overrated head coach. He thinks he's Bill Parcels...he's not!

[pbmax]

Holmgren was removed Fritz, and in his place went Tim Ruskell from the Falcons, who was removed himself just in the last two weeks.

Patler is probably right, but this may also be his fallback position as the Seahawks retained an executive search firm to find the next President of Football Operations. The Seahawks have a financial/admin guy running the search who might want to slice off some of the authority a football czar like Parcells would have. That might also complicate Holmgren's return. I don't think he just wants to be GM.

[Badgerinmaine]

I think the problem in Seattle was indeed the "wearing two hats" thing. Don't forget, too, that he did take the Seahawks to the Super Bowl.

I suspect he likes the idea of a challenge of totally rebuilding a classic franchise from the ground up--much like he did in Green Bay as a coach.

[Patler]

I read an interesting article about why Holmgren failed as GM & coach in Seattle. The article stated that Holmgren refused to delegate authority on anything, he tried to control and decide everything, including the most insignificant things that even a GM-only would delegate to others. As a result, he simply couldn't do everything, and things become delayed, not completed thoroughly, or decided on too little input.

The article suggested that as he got older he changed even in his approach to coaching, and being "fired" as GM was a real awakening for him about his own limitations. He was willing to delegate more and more to his coordinators and assistant coaches. They felt his interest in being a GM was in roster development, player procurement; and that he would delegate much of the other stuff to people with other skills. In short, he would be more Wolf-like in his approach the next time around.

[cheesner]

The guy was a terrible GM and a highly overrated head coach. He thinks he's Bill Parcels...he's not!

I am with you on this one Sheep. Seattle started declining as soon as Thompson left. Poor drafting, poor FA acquisition and poor trading (a 1st for a NE WR whose name escapes me)

[sepporepi]

Deon Branch

[pbmax]

The guy was a terrible GM and a highly overrated head coach. He thinks he's Bill Parcels...he's not!

I am with you on this one Sheep. Seattle started declining as soon as Thompson left. Poor drafting, poor FA acquisition and poor trading (a 1st for a NE WR whose name escapes me)

Everyone knows that Ruskell's key free agent signings were the reason the Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl, not Thompson's 25 year plan. Please keep your narratives straight. Success by Thompson is always accidental and the result of other forces.