Mike Holmgren Quotes (158 Quotes)

At the league level -- and I sit on the committees that talk about this stuff -- they want to do everything that they can for the safety of the player, ... In warm weather, we really talk about it a lot.

It's a great story. He has come in this year and done a marvelous job. He is one of 18 children. He has had to battle for his place his whole life. He appreciates everything. He works hard for everything. He doesn't expect anything to be given to him, and I can't say enough about the young guy. Do we miss Ken Hamlin Certainly we do. But Marquand Manuel has been better than good this season.

What we're asking him to do is difficult, ... A rookie middle linebacker calling the signals, there's nothing easy about that. His plate is full. But if anyone can handle it, of the young people I've seen in the last few years, he can.

I talked to him Saturday morning, and he was walking and moving. And he felt pretty good about it,

I think the world of him and I think he is a really good football player. I set the bar very high for him. Anytime he falls short of that, fair or not fair, I will talk to him about it. He is a wonderful guy ... and he wants to do well. To go with his physical ability, all the things you have to do to be a great player, it should happen for him.

He feels OK. He feels good. So it will be a club decision, a medical decision. He'd like to play.

They would go at it in practice pretty good, and Darrell is off to a good start. That will be a fun thing to watch, those two.

We've kind of been on his shoulders a good portion of this year.

We're dealing with young people. I used to lecture my children all the time, too.

I think Matt's best years are still ahead of him. He has played very, very well this year. But he is just starting and, in my opinion, he should be good for a while and keep getting better.

I would think I should be able to give some sort of answer in a couple, three weeks. I want to be fair, and I don't think there's any need to rush. That's why I think I'm being kind of diligent.

I know he's not very polished. But he'll fit in perfectly with my new eight-year plan to get this team to the divisional round of the playoffs.

I'm very, very happy for Matt, and that is no secret. It's a good story to me because he overcame some adversity at the beginning of his career, and he played through some injuries. He's a mentally tough guy. Like all of us, there's a period of becoming a little more humble and then kind of coming out of it and going.

I'm a tremendous believer now. It's about as much like grass as you can have a synthetic surface be. I really think the right decision was made. This is great for everyone. Players love it, and I think this surface will offer a better product on the field for fans.

I had a conversation with the league, and there were mistakes that were made, which we felt at the time.

He's a wonderful young man and a great football player -- let me say those things first,

I think he's going to be fine. He had a concussion but there are grades of concussions. If I showed him a picture of a truck he would say it's a truck and not a butterfly right now. He's pretty lucid. They'll do more tests on him but they seem to think he's going to be fine for next week.

I just can't afford to lose him with an injury as a backup quarterback.

It really is a team in the truest sense of the word. The sum of the parts is greater than the individual parts. This team is fairly unknown to most of the country.

The great players like Walter Jones, do they need all of training camp Probably not,

I think that has always stuck with me. I put the ball in the hands of the best player in the world, in a fairly safe pass and I almost lost the game for our team. That stuck with me a long time in that situation.

You see a guy like Marquand get thrust into a role and you're not sure what's going to happen, but then you see how hard he works because he wants it so bad and he doesn't want to let people down. It's a really incredibly satisfying thing to see as a coach.

Shaun is going to be fine. He had a concussion in the game. There are grades of concussions, but he should be fine. They are going to run more tests and we have an extra day of rest. If I showed him a picture of a truck, he would say it is a truck.

I thought Kenny was our best defensive back ... (but) we had 16 free agents and our front office was in a little bit of turmoil. Everyone has to know this We didn't want to lose Ken Lucas. We wanted to keep Ken Lucas. And in free agency, when he became free, Carolina offered him just a phenomenal financial package. And he was gone.

The only statistic that counts is the score at the end of the game. Give credit to the Steelers. They're a tough team to play against.

Not many people know us. Unless you're on the West Coast or specifically in the state of Washington, you'd be hard-pressed to name a bunch of our defensive players.

Well, I was so sensitive to the week before, being called conservative,

It usually to takes three or four years to really look back on a draft.

He has great hands. We knew that. He's a big target. I think his speed is a little underestimated. And we really needed him to play the way he played.

Today wasn't our day, that's for sure. When you play a team like that on the road, you can't turn the ball over. That's an overused term, but it's appropriate today. That was probably the story of the game.

It's normal. From what they're telling me, it's normal.

Chris is very steady. He's had a fine year. He gets overlooked. They tease him about it. I tease him about it.

Our trainers thought it would be good to give him a rest throwing the ball today.

Darrell was very much ready to play this football game. He came up big today.

There are grades of concussions. I think if I showed Alexander a picture of a truck, he'd say it's a truck and not a butterfly right now. He's pretty lucid.

We had a good game plan, and we wanted to come out passing the ball. Matt's not unlike a lot of quarterbacks who hit their first two or three passes and then are off and running.

I've had the privilege of holding it (the Lombardi Trophy) before and I hope to touch it again.

He's the type of runner that, you get 1 (yard), 1, 30, ... You can probably say that about a number of guys in the league. Then you have the guys that (run for) 3, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3.

Carolina offered him just a phenomenal financial package, and he was gone. Ken had developed his skills. We drafted him, we liked him, he had gotten better and better and better, and now he's playing at a certain level. That was a good signing by Carolina.

We talked through some of those things. We just had a really good talk. We've been able to communicate very well.

There were some guys who made some great plays, but we did drop the ball uncharacteristically. ...We played against a good team, and you can't overcome those things.

I talk about that a lot. I think if you asked one of my players, they'd probably tell you I kill them with that stuff. Just being careful. It's the last thing I told them Sunday night after we broke from the stadium after the game. After this incident, it gave me another opportunity because they were listening. I mean for the guys who kind of tuned me out before, now I had everybody listening and we talked about it, which, I think, is my responsibility as a coach. You know these guys are my family, and it would be like talking to your own kids, you don't want bad things to happen to them so let's try to help them a little bit.

I thanked him for allowing the coaches to build something. In such a volatile industry, you don't always get that.

It happens, because now you're down to one game, and anything can happen in any one game. But I think if you look over percentages over the last however many years, most of the times the guys that are playing at home have the advantage. So we're choosing to look at it that way.

He came in not with a chip on his shoulder, but with something to prove.

The news is good, thank God. We were all saying prayers for him.

Patience. I thanked Paul for being patient with me in a rather volatile business, to allow your coaches to build something and to believe in them. You don't always see it as much as you should in this business, and he has been great for me. With the patience Mr. Allen has shown me, he gave me a chance to stand on the podium.

To get this thing to quiet down we all just decided he has to not practice, not play, ... Otherwise it's one of those nagging things that could get worse if you don't do it.

In the NFC, I wouldn't care to guess who's going to be there at the end,

It could be as simple as, 'How about we go through next year and if you're happy and I'm feeling good then we'll meet.' I really don't know.