Mike Holmgren: A Grade After 22 Months on the Job with the Browns

On Dec. 20, 2009 on my website I wrote an editorial entitled “Is Holmgren the answer to the Browns problems?” 

I wrote the following :

Discussions of the Cleveland football guru position have reminded me of the movie “Joe and the
Volcano.” The boss of a very young Tom Hanks is on the phone discussing a
potential hire.

“I know he can get the job, but can he do the job?” I have exactly the same question about Mike
Holmgren as the “football guru” of the Browns or any other team for that matter. According to all reports, he has been offered the job by Browns’ owner Lerner. He has said that he is seriously considering taking the job and will decide soon. That could be standing room only close (give me an offer now because I’m not going to be on the market long) on other jobs around the league.

Admittedly, Holmgren did have an outstanding resume as a head coach.  However, his tour with the Seahawks as GM was spotty at best.  While 22 months in place is an unusual time to judge the job done, it should be clear that given the team’s schedule in the last seven games, the grades are not likely to get any higher later.

Holmgren's Record as a General Manager in Seattle.

Here is the history of his time as GM and some of the highlights of his drafting decisions:

In 1999, Holmgren was hired by the Seahawks to be coach and GM. This was his first shot at “buying the groceries” in addition to cooking the meal in the words of Bill Parcells. To say the least, it did not go as well as he hoped.

Here are his first round picks for the Seahawks:

1999 Round 1 Pick 22 Lamar King DE Saginaw Valley State—King never developed as the pass rusher he was picked to become. He had just 12 sacks in six years, had some injury problems and was released by the Hawks after the '03 season.

2000 Round 1 Pick 19 Shaun Alexander RB Alabama—Alexander was a star that burned out way too soon. After an MVP season he faded quickly and was out of the league early in the '08 season.

2000 Round 1 Pick 22 Chris McIntosh T Wisconsin—Mac was a can’t miss run blocker that did. He started 10 games in his rookie season and three more in '01 but was out of the league after that season.

2001 Round 1 Pick 9 Koren Robinson WR North Carolina State—Robinson developed nicely in '02 with 78 catches and had another 65 in '03. He would never reach 50 again in his career.

2001 Round 1 Pick 17 Steve Hutchinson G Michigan—Hutch is one of the best Gs in the league but guards are usually second or third round picks. The Hawks lost him to free agency after the '05 season.

2002 Round 1 Pick 28 Jerramy Stevens TE Washington—Stevens is still in the league but never developed into the weapon Holmgren though he would be. In seven seasons through 2008 he had started only 32 games mostly as an injury replacement. He is at best a second TE in a two TE set.

In 2009 I ended my article like this:

After the 2002 season, Holmgren was relieved of his GM duties. To be fair, he did have some notable picks in lower rounds but is this the kind of record as head draft guru that the Browns can depend on to turn the team around?  I don’t think so.

The Decision to Keep Eric Mangini as Head Coach in 2009

Now Holmgren is the President of the Browns and the face of the club.  But he has been almost as camera shy as the Owner Randy Lerner since taking the job.  This year with the offense under the direct control of his chosen guy Pat Shurmur sleepwalking through the season and putting those fans that are not irate to sleep as well, he has been quiet.  His only appearance this year was because he made a comment to a Seattle radio station that he was looking forward to moving back to the area.

So far, Holmgren has been responsible for five critical decisions.   Here are my grades for those choices.

Holmgren made the decision to allow head coach Eric Mangini to coach the team in 2010.

This decision is hard to understand because Mangini ran an offense and defense directly opposed to the known preference of Holmgren.  Holmgren wanted a west coast offense and a
4-3 defense.  Mangini ran a 3-4 defense (with 4 inside linebackers without any speed) and an offense that in two years never decided who or what it was under OC Brian Dabol. 

In addition, everyone knew that there was a high probability that there would be a lockout in 2011 which would wipe out most or all of the Organized Team Activities which were critical to installing a new offense and defense.  The team would have a much better chance to be competitive if this was the second year of the new program rather than the first. 

McCoy would be much more advanced due to taking all the snaps in practice, 16 games in 2010 and the games this year as well.  The defense would also have profited from having a full year of the 4-3 zone concept.

Grade F

Holmgren Hired Tom Heckert as General Manager

Holmgren hired Tom Heckert to be the General Manager.

While in two drafts Heckert has had some hits and a few misses, he has done much better than any of the previous regimes in bringing in early round picks that have contributed to the team.  However, it is easy to look good when the alternative against which you are being compared is so dismal. 

His 2010 picks of CB Haden (Round 1) and S Ward (Round 2) have been excellent.  Haden is on his way to becoming a shutdown corner and Ward’s absence has been felt against the run in recent weeks.  Heckert traded up in the second round to get RB Hardesty who had red flags due to a history of injury and the back got injured in the preseason of 2010 and again this year.  In the third round he got QB McCoy who has been starting with mixed results.

In the 2011 draft the trade to get Atlanta’s first pick in 2012 is looking better and better.  The pick of DT Taylor after trading down looked like a reach at the time but he has proven to be a first round quality guy.  We predicted the Browns taking DE Sheard with their second round pick and he has played well.  Second round WR Little has become a go-to guy for McCoy but that says more about the lack of receivers than Little’s development and physical ability.

Grade B+

Holmgren Takes QB Colt McCoy in the 2010 Draft

Holmgren handpicked Texas QB Colt McCoy in the 2010 draft.

In part Holmgren made his reputation by turning lesser-known QB into NFL-quality starters.  He has 2010 third round pick Colt McCoy starting now.  Indications are that the team may have decided that if they can find a stronger arm they will draft him.  McCoy has done some nice things but has regressed after leading the Browns to a couple of major upsets in 2010.  He was deprived of any practice snaps by coach Mangini in 2010 until both the other quarterbacks were hurt and the team was forced to start McCoy.  I am not sure if McCoy can be the so-called quarterback of the future or not.  It is hard to tell since he has no running game with the three top RBs injured and neither of the 2011 starting WRs due to 2009 second  round pick Brian Robiskie being cut and fellow second rounder Mohamed Massaquoi being hurt again.

If McCoy proves to be an NFL quality starter, this grade would be an A+.  If he just becomes a good backup it would be a C+.  Otherwise this would be an F.

Grade: Incomplete

Holmgren Refuses to Sign NFL Free Agents

Holmgren and Heckert are committed to developing the team without signing free agents.

Holmgren made a statement as the lockout came to an end that the team was fine at wide receiver and did not need to sign a free agent.  That has turned out to be a huge mistake.  The release of Robiskie after naming him the starter for the first five games of 2011 indicated the folly of that decision.

In addition there were so many holes on the team that no amount of draft picks will ever fill.  Defensive end Ray Edwards even tweeted that he would be happy to play in Cleveland.  According to multiple sources Holmgren/Heckert never even contacted his agent.  DE was a critical need for the team and the defense has suffered from the lack of depth at the position.

Holmgren knew that the fan base was depressed.  The fans were craving improvement from a team that has had so many false starts. 

Instead of getting some young free agents like Edwards (26) he has said over and over that building the team is “a process.”  That is exactly what other coaches, GMs, and officers have said.  But those processes usually result in progress.  The only result of this process was new coaches, GMs, and officers.

GRADE: F

Holmgren Picks Pat Shurmur to Be Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator

Holmgren selected Pat Shurmur as head coach and approved his not naming an offensive coordinator.

This decision is the key to the Holmgren-era in Cleveland and likely will determine if he makes it to the NFL Hall of Fame or not.  So far those two decisions are looking very shaky.  Cleveland has a history of being the training ground for those that have never been head coaches in the NFL.  After a dismal six years in Cleveland as head coach Bill Belichick was fired.  The team moved to Baltimore and owner Modell didn’t give Belichick the forwarding address.  Of course Belichick went on to build a HOF career in New England. 

Mangini has taken a job with the NFL Network.  Look for him to learn from his mistakes in Cleveland and become a good coach someplace. 

Shurmur had been the offensive coordinator for the Rams for just two years before being named the head coach in Cleveland.  He had never been head coach at any level before.  And he is clearly struggling with the management function of the job now in combination with OC duties he demanded he have. 

I said at the time the announcement was made that was a mistake.  He should have had an experienced OC to help him with that task.  That would have allowed him to spend more time doing the head coach job which he has neglected.

A perfect example of Shurmur’s issues is his failure to correct the special teams’ issues have directly cost the team two wins.  That is unacceptable. 

Had I been the head coach, the special teams’ coach would have been fired on the spot and forced to find his own way back from Oakland.

The offense has been anemic at best.  Colt McCoy had regressed including developing happy feet and has suffered from a lack of playmakers to whom to throw.  He has lost his accuracy and had been pounded into the ground regularly.

GRADE: D at this point
pending the final.

Holmgren's HOF Hopes Depend on His Job Rebuilding the Browns

Overall, Holmgren has bet his chance to be elected to the NFL Hall of Fame on this job to rebuild the Browns. 

So far he has not done well.  He needs to help develop Shurmur much more than he has so far.  There is no question that the team was in shambles with a roster filled with old ex-Jet leftovers from the Mangini era.  They were old and slow which is not a good combination.

Holmgren has just three more years in his current deal.  If the record does not get better by next year the chances of resigning the key draft picks of 2010 will be nil.  That will result in more holes to fill with the future draft picks.

That is what I think.  Tell us what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits fryingpansports.com and hosts the Internet radio version of News, Notes and Rumors M-Th at 6 PM EST.  He has also published several novels and a non-fiction work.