Mike Holmgren Quotes (158 Quotes)

I was afraid I was going to break furniture and throw the monitor out the window. It's just hard because we had our chances and we didn't capitalize.

There's something to be said for the routine. I kept it like at home. They appear relaxed and under control. I have done a good job. We will see.

But we're in as good a position as any team to absorb that. Our attitude has always been the next guy steps in, and off you go.

I'm going to meet with the doctors today. We are going to do the right thing,

I think the game against the Cowboys helped us. I think their styles of play and what they ask their players to do is quite different. Dallas has a very fine defense, but their 3-4 is different than the Steelers' 3-4. They don't zone-blitz quite as much. They crowd you a lot on the edge with their corners. Pittsburgh doesn't do that quite so much. There are some differences. As far as your count system and how you are going to protect against a 3-4, that preparation has helped.

Be careful how you phrase that. I'm not surprised how he's playing and I didn't want to let him go. I wanted him to stay, but he was given a fabulous contract by Carolina and so he did what was best for he and his family.

Michael has good instincts and good breaks on the ball. He's not undisciplined. Some of those guys who seem to be where the action is all the time are a little bit undisciplined.

He was very sorry and apologized to me. He did not want anything like this to be a distraction. He really does realize that the players represent the community and he is one of the guys that would like to be a role model in this community. He realizes that this has been a negative thing in what should be a feel-good week for us.

That was very distasteful to me, to retaliate so to speak like that (against the Vikings). I do believe the commissioner should look into these kind of clauses. We work so hard on trying to gain labor peace and a new collective bargaining agreement and then we as clubs allow agents to get cute and circumvent it. On the playing field there are rules and there are unwritten rules about how the game should be played in the spirit and the fairness of it all. It doesn't make sense to me that we had to lose such a fine football player this way. I was surprised by the ruling.

There were a couple of times we could have gotten the ball to Peter, and they probably would have been pretty good plays, and we just didn't throw it to him. He's going to get nothing but better. He's a good addition for us.

is that he's just not passionate enough about football. But when we started talking basketball he got excited. I think he's going to get his rookie paycheck and cruise. He also didn't do well in the psychological profiling we did on him.

It's a clear example of ... when the fire is burning a little brighter for one team.

I talked to a number of players on the team -- including our offensive linemen -- they really wanted to do this for him. That's all healthy stuff, that's all good stuff.

He came into camp in the best condition of his life. He really did ... He's a little bit unlucky.

We just changed some of our packages so it gets to be seen more. Plus, everybody knows that this could be my last year here so everybody is kind of paying attention to everything.

That team (Green Bay) was a little bit more of a star team. We had more than a couple guys that were really pretty well known at their positions throughout the country and went to Pro Bowls. Our team now, even though we are fortunate to have a number of players go to the Pro Bowl, is really a team in the truest sense of the word.

I could always stick Bobby in the game and have him do it, and Bobby has popped a couple in his career for us here, and he usually gets 10 yards. But I think we have a couple of other guys in Peter and Jimmy now capable of doing this. ... So I would like it to work the other way, quite honestly, but at the same time I want it to improve, and I have to see some improvement.

We didn't have a hit list of places not to go. However, I did talk to the team this morning about staying away from that area down there. ... This wasn't an isolated incident down in that neck of the woods.

He's doing good. But heck, he was the former head coach (in Green Bay) and he doesn't need to go to this game. (He's) doing OK. Healing up.

As I've told the team, ultimately you'll be judged by what happens and where you are at the end of the season. I understand why we are the underdogs, and there's really only one way to handle that. That's not by talking, it's by playing the game and seeing what happens.

I asked the team if it was OK if we give Ray this week's ball, and they were very happy to do that. He was upstairs, and he minded the doctors' orders, pretty much.

It can look a little chaotic on the sidelines, but if you have done things right ahead of time, you really are not surprised by much, Mike, for the next 60 minutes, we are not responsible for anything we say to each other.

We'll see, ... Joe, of course, has played, and Hackett hasn't played very much so we'll see. He has certainly worked hard to do this, and I have confidence in him. We'll see how it goes.

We went through all that craziness with dropping the ball -- not just Darrell, but all the receivers. Now we're catching balls. I don't have a good answer for you (as to why).

JAGUARS Tropical Storm Ophelia could affect Sunday's game against Seattle and make coach Jack Del Rio's jersey swap a moot point. Del Rio had decided to make the Seahawks wear their green and blue home jerseys at Alltel Stadium, hoping the dark shirts would cause more sweat for players unaccustomed to the heat. It makes all the sense in the world to me, ... If I was Jack, I would do the same thing.

He said it's just like being at the game. He goes, 'Mike, why won't you let me come to the games... It's just as bad when I am watching it at home.

Honestly, when Bill and I visit, we don't talk about football as much as we do about our families. He tells me about his three daughters, I tell him about my four daughters. We're both very proud of our daughters. We've both been married to our wives since college. What it shows to me is, even though this business can be difficult on families, we've got strong ones.

He's worked very hard. He's bought in. He hasn't given up when it seemed a little grim at times in the last couple of years.

I had the privilege of being around one of the great players in the history of the league I think you can say that but I don't know if he's made up his mind. If this were to be his last game, then I'm really glad I was here.

We were careless with the football, and we made too many mistakes. And when you play a good team like the Steelers, that's not a good combination.

Whoever is playing, I expect them to play well. We want to win the football game. Every time we suit up, we're going after a win. But it is different because you do have certain things wrapped up now.

The good news is with rest -- I believe and our medical people believe -- he will get better.

I think we had a little addition by subtraction this year and more guys bought into what we were doing defensively. We played much better.

We played in noisy games on the road. I don't anticipate it being like that, but I think we will be the visiting team in that stadium I'm pretty sure, so we're going to work on that the next couple days.

I think we made a little mistake last year not throwing him in there sooner. He would have struggled a little bit, but when he did play, he was very good.

I am very pleased to announce that we were able to raise over 190,000 for Northwest Medical Teams tonight for people in the New Orleans area. A football game seems rather trivial when you consider what those folks are going through.

Honestly, there was some discussion on our coaching staff as to who really should continue being the starter. That was a real thing that happened. They were kind of different types Mark was a little more steady early on than Brett. There was something appealing to a coach about that. Clearly, I had a decision to make.

At the end of the year, if you have a guy who scores 20 touchdowns, gains 1,500 yards, goes to the Pro Bowl, does all those things, you're probably happy you have him, ... And Shaun, I'm glad we have him. If you can have a guy not get hurt and play for you all season long, that will be a positive for your football team.

It's a move that he's handled very well. He's a good enough player to do that.

He is as about as consistent and tough a linemen as I've ever coached. He's very, very steady.

I expected more from him. We had a nice visit. I think the world of him. I think he is a really good player. I set the bar very high for him. My expectation level for him is high. Any time he falls short of that, fair or not fair, I want to talk to him about it.

I said to him (Alexander) that if I were to put him back in the game and he were to get hurt, I would never speak to him again. I told him that, and he said, 'No, I'm OK. Don't worry.' I'm really glad that we could do that and he could score.

Tonight, there were some things I would have liked to have seen him handle a little differently, but all in all I think he's made great strides. There were a couple of formation things and a couple of audible checks. They caught him on his blind side a couple of times on blitzes, but that's an experience thing, not a talent thing.

It's almost impossible not to pick those guys if you need a quarterback because they don't come around very often.

I don't know exactly what that means. I don't think so. I like to kill anybody just like the next guy.

The whole thing with Ray is that we want to make sure that when he does come back, he comes back and we do the right thing, ... I will have to have the reins on him a little bit because he'll want to dive back in there and its probably not the prudent thing to do right away.

The microphone was put in his face at the end of the game, and he desperately wanted that rushing title, and I wanted it for him. But he missed out, so he blurted something out. The very next day we talked, and as far as he and I were concerned, that was over.

It was never more evident than in the game Sunday with all the penalties that came directly because of crowd noise and the enthusiasm of our fans.

He kind of set the tone for all those guys inside. And they've played well. He was a little like what John Randle was like for us a couple years ago.

Matt had a great season two years ago. He had a good season last year. But we need him to be great for us to reach our goal, ... He should be among the top five quarterbacks every year.