Former Seattle Seahawks coach and current prospective Cleveland Browns President of Operations Mike Holmgren took to the Seattle airwaves this afternoon. On Seattles KJR (950 AM), the Super Bowl-winning coach announced…well, nothing. But he did discuss the past week worth of activities and continued to hint towards an announcement sooner than later.
The Associated Press reported that Holmgren’s appearance on Seattle’s biggest sports radio station would possibly lead to him announcing his future plans. Along with discussing the current playoff race and the never ending debate about resting players for the postseason, Holmgren touched on the job opening in Cleveland, but failed to “announce” any sort of agreement between another team and himself.
Holmgren spent a good portion of this week in Cleveland where he met with Randy Lerner as well as several members of the Browns coaching staff. Holmgren claims that the meeting was more informational than anything else, getting to know the area as well as the team.
“I had a lot of dealings with the owner. Very refreshing,” said Holmgren. “[Randy Lerner is] an honest man, a good guy. I liked everything I heard. It’s a wonderful opportunity for anybody.” Holmgren also added that he is “not trying to leverage anything,” as had been rumored throughout the entire hiring process for both parties.
But when asked about when any future announcement would be, Holmgren stated that there is in fact a timetable that the two parties are working with.
“It’s my obligation to let the Browns know what I’m thinking,” said the former coach. “The sooner the better, in fairness to the Browns and their organization. Exactly the day, that has not been decided yet. I would say sooner than later.”
Going on record, Holmgren stated that he doesn’t know who coined it, but he doesn’t like the word “Czar.” “It has nothing to do with football,” he said.
Holmgren then said it would be “unfair” to discuss his potential future with current head coach Eric Mangini, but did say that Mangini is a “good guy that works hard at his job.” Holmgren continued with “sometimes, the tough decisions are not fair,” and that he “would do everything in his power to make sure that it was the right one.”
“The challenge of rebuilding is kind of in my blood; it’s all how you’re wired,” he said. “In Cleveland, the biggest attraction to me is ownership. [Randy Lerner] wants this team to play well and do well for the city. It’s very appealing from that aspect.”
UPDATE: No Logo Needed has the transcript from the show.
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