Having been a Seattle Seahawks fan since, eh, about 1997, I've endured almost a decade of mediocre seasons (boy did I come on at the wrong time, during the Dennis Erickson regime, but thankfully AFTER the Tom Flores era). When Holmgren was announced as the "long-term solution" to the woeful Hawks' ways, we in Seattle were overjoyed.

But we waited. And we were patient.
And we waited.
"There's always next year," we told ourselves at the end of each December.
But then..."This is the year!" We'd proclaim after another 2-2 preseason.

And then this year happened! I won't even reference the Superbowl "debacle," but I am interested to hear some responses from football fans OUTSIDE Seattle on two things:

1) There has been talk circulating Seattle sports radio that Mike Holmgren is a Hall of Fame coach. Does anybody agree with this? Is he actually overrated?

2) Now that he has signed a two-year extension (reportedly worth at or above his annual $7 million salary for this upcoming season), what results should Seahawks fans expect this year? Is it the team or Holmgren's coaching that has made them a likely contender for years to come (with the primary players now under contract)?


[Thread title modified for case - Outsports moderator]

[ May 22, 2006, 09:41 PM: Message edited by: m1 ]

Having been a Hawks fan since way back in the 70's, when they first came around, ( my age is showing) I was very, very relieved to hear that Holmgren is staying around awhile..I think he is a great Coach, and yeah maybe even a Hall of Famer. He has done very well, everywhere he has been. As far as expectations for this season for the Hawks,in my opinion its high. The bar has been raised....last year was glorious, with one exception of course, but I can't think of another word to describe just how magical it was for Hawks fans to really, really have something to cheer about....

On a sad note, and we knew it was coming, it appears that the Hawks will be training over here in Eastern Washington for only 2 more seasons, as they are finally building a state of the art training facility in Renton, Wa. as I understand it....will be really sad over here to not see them in the summer training.... frown

[ May 17, 2006, 05:32 AM: Message edited by: hockeyTom ]

Yeah, I'm glad as well that Holmgren is back, but I just can't advocate him being a Hall of Fame coach. He's a great quarterbacks coach, of course, but what else? He's only won one Superbowl as head coach, but then again, the argument can be made that Marv Levy lost four and look where he is now.

But the future looks intensely bright, I am happy to say. As for the summer camp, yes, the new facility in Renton looks incredible. Too bad for Cheney (I attended EWU for a quarter back in 2003 so I can say it's quite backwoods out there), but central locations are great and Renton's just minutes from headquarters in Kirkland and the stadium in Seattle. Besides, prospective players love state-of-the-art facilities so free agents hopefully will be swayed by the luxurious amenities going to Renton.