Could Holmgren Be the End Game?

Yeah I'm not talking about rejoining a team a few years later.

Snyder is just going to do what he wanted to do last year, hire Jimmie Johnson to run the franchise...I'm kidding....or am I? ;)

In all seriousness though, Holmgren I suppose is a remote possibility (though I think he's more likely to go to San Francisco in a Bill Parcells type of role), but I don't see what the benefit of having him here is. I especially don't understand the whole "mentor Zorn while serving as President/GM" idea. He couldn't handle running the front office and being a head coach before, I can't see him being able to do something similar-if not more difficult-now. Plus, I think Snyder's love of Holmgren is really more about Snyder's admiration for Ron Wolf.

But Holmgren is probably one of those names you'll inevitably hear along with other names. Some of which are actually probably more likely to come in. Just to name a couple, apart from the oft-rumored Bill Cowher: Pete Carroll-He'd want to run everything and the only person I think Snyder is going to allow to do that is Cowher; Dennis Green-He could be an option, he's always near the top of the list as a proven veteran coach who ownership could cede full control to; Dan Reeves-Highly unlikely, but never say never I suppose. Marty Schottenheimer-Would surprise me less than Gregg Williams coming back. Schott supposedly only wants to come back to the NFL in a front office position and he and Cowher have, again supposedly, spoken about "how cool would it be if we worked together." Cowher has the utmost respect for Schottenheimer as he's one person he may be willing to cede front office control to. Granted, this is a bit of an extreme long shot because Cowher is probably going to command way too much money to only be head coach. As for Snyder and Schott's relationship, a) it's fine and b) the biggest issue with them in the past is that Snyder wanted to bring in a "GM" and have Schott focus strictly on coaching, he thought one reason for the slow start in 2001 was that Marty had focused too much time and energy in the off-season on personnel decisisons rather than on-field activities, but Schott didn't want to give up oversight of the salary cap, college scouting, etc. so nobody wanted to come in as GM. It wasn't really so much that Snyder thought Schottenheimer couldn't handle the job. Again, a long shot but not impossible.

But if I were a betting man and, assuming Zorn is indeed let go or resigns or whatever, had to pick who I think the top candidates are to be the next head coach then I would probably say that it's likely to be Cowher or Brian Billick, with Mariucci a possibility. Green is less likely and Carroll probably even less likely. I personally happen to like Mike Sherman and would love to see him here, if we made a change. But I doubt he's being considered.

As for Cerrato, I really doubt he's going to get fired. But I can see him being removed gradually from the football operations to focus much more on the business side. He could be like Rich McKay in Atlanta.

The thing with Cerrato is that he and Zorn are somewhat inevitably attached. Zorn is after all "Cerrato's Guy." Of course, we all know that's less true than the fact that no one else (Fassel, etc.) wanted to be associated with VC. Snyder committed to Cerrato and let other, perhaps better, options walk away to appease Cerrato. So if you get rid of Zorn, then you would think that some blame needs to be placed on Cerrato. If you commit to zorn, then you'd assume that it's also a validation of Cerrato.

Also, I should add that when I said I thought Zorn is probably 80% likely to be gone, that may have been a bit hyperbolic. I should just say he's likely gone.

Looks like Holmgren will be somewhere other than Seattle doing something football related next year:

HOLMGREN STILL HAS THE ITCH TO COACH (http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/12/18/holmgren-still-has-the-itch-to-coach/)

Posted by Michael David Smith on December 18, 2008, 3:57 p.m.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren has just two more games left in Seattle. But all indications are that he’s not done in the NFL.
Holmgren said he still has the desire to coach, even though he decided long before this season started that he would walk away from Seattle.
“Right in the back of my (mind), that little itch I can’t scratch, it’s still there (http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/seahawks/story/571052.html),” Holmgren said, per the News Tribune. “Maybe someday.”
But beyond that, Holmgren wouldn’t say where he might wind up, or even whether a future NFL job would be on the sidelines or in the front office.
“I’m not getting into specifics,” he said. “We’re just talking about itches here.”

How about we do something sensible like raid the Seahawks coaching staff once Holmgren leaves.

Hil Haskell-Offensive Coordinator of the passing game
Mike DeBord- Assistant Offensive Line coach
Keith Gilbertson- WR Coach
Jim Lind- TE Coach