kaa
Footballguy
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/...s_owner_ra.html
This would be an excellent hire. In the Browns thread, I reviewed Holmgren's work as GM with the Seahawks, and concluded the franchise rushed to a decision to strip him of the GM title. The short version is Holmgren brought in star players like Shaun Alexander, Matt Hasselbeck, Darrell Jackson, Steve Hutchinson, etc., and then was stripped of the GM role in January 2003. Most of these players would not emerge into stars until a year or two after the change was made. Holmgren is underrated and would be my top choice.
Jim Brown says Browns owner Randy Lerner met Tuesday with a 'great football mind'
By Tony Grossi
November 17, 2009, 5:52PM
Elaine Thompson / AP
Was former Packers and Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, above, the 'great football mind' meeting with Randy Lerner on Tuesday? Jim Brown knows but isn't saying.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns owner Randy Lerner could be stepping up his efforts to land a new head of football operations.
At a luncheon Tuesday, Jim Brown, who holds the title of executive adviser with the club, said Lerner was interviewing somebody to turn around the Browns' fortunes.
"At this moment, right now Randy Lerner is meeting with one of the great football minds in this country," Brown said in remarks prior to and during the luncheon. "And if things work out, that person will come in to run the football side of the Browns."
Brown would not disclose who it was. When somebody asked if it was Mike Holmgren, Brown responded coyly, "You said it . . . and I heard it."
Brown made his remarks at a luncheon held by Our Lady by the Wayside, which presented him with the organization's Starlight Guardian Humanitarian Award.
Holmgren, the former Green Bay and Seattle coach, has been rumored to be No. 1 on Lerner's wish list to hire a "serious, credible leader" to reorganize his football operations.
An NFL source close to Holmgren said he was unaware of a meeting with Lerner, but did not discount it could happen.
The source said, however, that Holmgren intends to wait until the 2009 season is over "to see how the dust settles" before making a decision on his future.
Lerner contacted Holmgren a year ago, but Holmgren told teams he was taking the '09 season off. He coached in Seattle for 10 years after seven seasons in Green Bay. He took both teams to the Super Bowl, winning one with the Packers, and losing one with the Seahawks.
For the first five years in Seattle, Holmgren held the joint titles of president and general manager, along with coaching the team. He was stripped of much of his authority in 2005 when Tim Ruskell was hired as the franchise's president and GM.
The NFL source said that Holmgren wants to wait until after the '09 season to determine whether he wants to coach, serve as a football czar a la Bill Parcells -- or do both.
"I think that's what's so difficult for him to decide because he has a full palette of things he can choose from and I don't think he knows yet exactly what he wants to do," the source said. "I know that he does want to come back. He just doesn't know in what capacity."
If that is the case, Lerner may have to wait until after the season to compete for Holmgren's services. In previous statements, the owner seemed intent on adding a football overseer as soon as possible to get a feel for what coach Eric Mangini is teaching and trying to accomplish before recommending changes.
Brown said he was pulling for Mangini to succeed, but said of the 1-8 Browns, "It's not a respectable product."
Efforts to reach Lerner and Holmgren were not immediately successful.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: tgrossi@plaind.com, 216-999-4670
This would be an excellent hire. In the Browns thread, I reviewed Holmgren's work as GM with the Seahawks, and concluded the franchise rushed to a decision to strip him of the GM title. The short version is Holmgren brought in star players like Shaun Alexander, Matt Hasselbeck, Darrell Jackson, Steve Hutchinson, etc., and then was stripped of the GM role in January 2003. Most of these players would not emerge into stars until a year or two after the change was made. Holmgren is underrated and would be my top choice.
Jim Brown says Browns owner Randy Lerner met Tuesday with a 'great football mind'
By Tony Grossi
November 17, 2009, 5:52PM
Elaine Thompson / AP
Was former Packers and Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, above, the 'great football mind' meeting with Randy Lerner on Tuesday? Jim Brown knows but isn't saying.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns owner Randy Lerner could be stepping up his efforts to land a new head of football operations.
At a luncheon Tuesday, Jim Brown, who holds the title of executive adviser with the club, said Lerner was interviewing somebody to turn around the Browns' fortunes.
"At this moment, right now Randy Lerner is meeting with one of the great football minds in this country," Brown said in remarks prior to and during the luncheon. "And if things work out, that person will come in to run the football side of the Browns."
Brown would not disclose who it was. When somebody asked if it was Mike Holmgren, Brown responded coyly, "You said it . . . and I heard it."
Brown made his remarks at a luncheon held by Our Lady by the Wayside, which presented him with the organization's Starlight Guardian Humanitarian Award.
Holmgren, the former Green Bay and Seattle coach, has been rumored to be No. 1 on Lerner's wish list to hire a "serious, credible leader" to reorganize his football operations.
An NFL source close to Holmgren said he was unaware of a meeting with Lerner, but did not discount it could happen.
The source said, however, that Holmgren intends to wait until the 2009 season is over "to see how the dust settles" before making a decision on his future.
Lerner contacted Holmgren a year ago, but Holmgren told teams he was taking the '09 season off. He coached in Seattle for 10 years after seven seasons in Green Bay. He took both teams to the Super Bowl, winning one with the Packers, and losing one with the Seahawks.
For the first five years in Seattle, Holmgren held the joint titles of president and general manager, along with coaching the team. He was stripped of much of his authority in 2005 when Tim Ruskell was hired as the franchise's president and GM.
The NFL source said that Holmgren wants to wait until after the '09 season to determine whether he wants to coach, serve as a football czar a la Bill Parcells -- or do both.
"I think that's what's so difficult for him to decide because he has a full palette of things he can choose from and I don't think he knows yet exactly what he wants to do," the source said. "I know that he does want to come back. He just doesn't know in what capacity."
If that is the case, Lerner may have to wait until after the season to compete for Holmgren's services. In previous statements, the owner seemed intent on adding a football overseer as soon as possible to get a feel for what coach Eric Mangini is teaching and trying to accomplish before recommending changes.
Brown said he was pulling for Mangini to succeed, but said of the 1-8 Browns, "It's not a respectable product."
Efforts to reach Lerner and Holmgren were not immediately successful.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: tgrossi@plaind.com, 216-999-4670
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