Bronco_Beerslug
01-11-2006, 10:00 AM
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Shanahan and Holmgren led their teams to 13-3 records this year.
Mike Check
Once regarded as coaching royalty, the luster was wearing off Mike Holmgren and Mike Shanahan. But both are back on top and eyeing a return to the Super Bowl, writes Greg Garber
Bill Walsh is 74 years old, but he seems to have accelerated since leaving the San Francisco 49ers with three Super Bowl rings.
He's currently the acting athletic director at Stanford University, where he coached the football team in two tours of duty, before and after his 10 seasons as the 49ers' head coach from 1979 to '88. On Tuesday, his schedule was jammed with appointments, but he managed to find time to talk about two of the 49ers' most illustrious coaching graduates, stellar students of his West Coast offensive philosophy who have taken a great deal of heat in recent years: Mike Holmgren and Mike Shanahan.
"They really are extremely competent," Walsh said from his Stanford, Calif., office, "and because of that, they've been able to stand up to the criticism that's started to develop. They had a plan, a methodology, a way to go about things, and they didn't change. They stayed within the system they were teaching and didn't vary from it. They had excellent teaching in our [49ers] system -- they both knew it frontward and backward.
"You're talking about two of the great coaches in football. There are not enough positive things you can say about them, because they're the ultimate."
Indeed, the similarities between Shanahan and Holmgren go far beyond a shared first name.
They both played quarterback in college, Holmgren at USC and Shanahan at Eastern Illinois. Holmgren was the San Francisco's offensive coordinator during 1989-91 when the 49ers won back-to-back Super Bowls. Shanahan followed Holmgren in that role, also for three years. Holmgren's Green Bay Packers, led by quarterback Brett Favre, won Super Bowl XXXI to conclude the 1996 season. Shanahan's Denver Broncos, led by quarterback John Elway, won the next two Super Bowls, including XXXII -- against Holmgren and the Packers.
For three seasons, Holmgren and Shanahan reigned as the masters of their coaching craft. And then, practically overnight, they were seen as stupid.
In the wake of Elway's retirement, Shanahan's Broncos went 6-10 in 1999. They failed to win the AFC West for six consecutive seasons and went 0-3 in playoff games. Holmgren, taking up residence in Seattle, went a middling 50-46 in his first six seasons and is 0-3 in the playoffs with the Seahawks.
In their absence, the NFL produced new men endowed with coaching genius: Mike Martz in St. Louis, Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay, Bill Belichick in New England.
Today, Martz finds himself out of the picture in St. Louis. Gruden's Buccaneers were first-round playoff victims of the Washington Redskins. This week's divisional playoff games feature two delicious coaching matchups that restore order to the coaching hierarchy. On Saturday afternoon, Holmgren's Seahawks meet the Redskins, who are guided by Joe Gibbs, already a Pro Football Hall of Famer with three Super Bowl rings. Shanahan's assignment in Saturday's late game: Belichick and the Patriots, who are looking for their unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl victory and fourth in five seasons.
A few weeks ago, Holmgren reflected on his back-to-the-future rise to the top in a press conference with local media.
"Those of us in this business, sitting in this chair, we kind of understand what the deal is about," Holmgren said. "You learn to take the good with the bad. As long as you feel, at the end of the day, you're maintaining your integrity and you're consistent and continuing to teach the things you believe in, if you can get through the tough spots and eventually come out at the end and get something done, yeah, there's a good feeling there."
Both Holmgren, 57, and Shanahan, 53, stayed the course. Both men, showing infinite patience with their sometimes scattershot quarterbacks, led their teams to 13-3 records and secured home-field advantage for their divisional playoff games. "If it's possible, I think I'm more into it now," Shanahan told reporters last week. "Because sometimes, you've got to go through some down times to appreciate the good times."
(CONTINUED)
http://tinyurl.com/84x52
Shanahan and Holmgren led their teams to 13-3 records this year.
Mike Check
Once regarded as coaching royalty, the luster was wearing off Mike Holmgren and Mike Shanahan. But both are back on top and eyeing a return to the Super Bowl, writes Greg Garber
Bill Walsh is 74 years old, but he seems to have accelerated since leaving the San Francisco 49ers with three Super Bowl rings.
He's currently the acting athletic director at Stanford University, where he coached the football team in two tours of duty, before and after his 10 seasons as the 49ers' head coach from 1979 to '88. On Tuesday, his schedule was jammed with appointments, but he managed to find time to talk about two of the 49ers' most illustrious coaching graduates, stellar students of his West Coast offensive philosophy who have taken a great deal of heat in recent years: Mike Holmgren and Mike Shanahan.
"They really are extremely competent," Walsh said from his Stanford, Calif., office, "and because of that, they've been able to stand up to the criticism that's started to develop. They had a plan, a methodology, a way to go about things, and they didn't change. They stayed within the system they were teaching and didn't vary from it. They had excellent teaching in our [49ers] system -- they both knew it frontward and backward.
"You're talking about two of the great coaches in football. There are not enough positive things you can say about them, because they're the ultimate."
Indeed, the similarities between Shanahan and Holmgren go far beyond a shared first name.
They both played quarterback in college, Holmgren at USC and Shanahan at Eastern Illinois. Holmgren was the San Francisco's offensive coordinator during 1989-91 when the 49ers won back-to-back Super Bowls. Shanahan followed Holmgren in that role, also for three years. Holmgren's Green Bay Packers, led by quarterback Brett Favre, won Super Bowl XXXI to conclude the 1996 season. Shanahan's Denver Broncos, led by quarterback John Elway, won the next two Super Bowls, including XXXII -- against Holmgren and the Packers.
For three seasons, Holmgren and Shanahan reigned as the masters of their coaching craft. And then, practically overnight, they were seen as stupid.
In the wake of Elway's retirement, Shanahan's Broncos went 6-10 in 1999. They failed to win the AFC West for six consecutive seasons and went 0-3 in playoff games. Holmgren, taking up residence in Seattle, went a middling 50-46 in his first six seasons and is 0-3 in the playoffs with the Seahawks.
In their absence, the NFL produced new men endowed with coaching genius: Mike Martz in St. Louis, Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay, Bill Belichick in New England.
Today, Martz finds himself out of the picture in St. Louis. Gruden's Buccaneers were first-round playoff victims of the Washington Redskins. This week's divisional playoff games feature two delicious coaching matchups that restore order to the coaching hierarchy. On Saturday afternoon, Holmgren's Seahawks meet the Redskins, who are guided by Joe Gibbs, already a Pro Football Hall of Famer with three Super Bowl rings. Shanahan's assignment in Saturday's late game: Belichick and the Patriots, who are looking for their unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl victory and fourth in five seasons.
A few weeks ago, Holmgren reflected on his back-to-the-future rise to the top in a press conference with local media.
"Those of us in this business, sitting in this chair, we kind of understand what the deal is about," Holmgren said. "You learn to take the good with the bad. As long as you feel, at the end of the day, you're maintaining your integrity and you're consistent and continuing to teach the things you believe in, if you can get through the tough spots and eventually come out at the end and get something done, yeah, there's a good feeling there."
Both Holmgren, 57, and Shanahan, 53, stayed the course. Both men, showing infinite patience with their sometimes scattershot quarterbacks, led their teams to 13-3 records and secured home-field advantage for their divisional playoff games. "If it's possible, I think I'm more into it now," Shanahan told reporters last week. "Because sometimes, you've got to go through some down times to appreciate the good times."
(CONTINUED)
http://tinyurl.com/84x52