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Tuesday, September 07, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.
Seahawks By Greg Bishop
KIRKLAND — The odds were heavy in those days of darkness, when the mastermind didn't seem so masterful and the emperor clung to nothing if not convictions long established. Mike Holmgren came here, to Seattle, to save the Seahawks, inheriting a team that had won at least 10 games in a season only twice in two decades. A team that hadn't won a playoff game in 14 seasons. He had three things that really mattered: a plan, a system with which to execute that plan and a belief that that plan would work. And from the beginning of Holmgren's second season in 1999 until the Seahawks ended 2002 on a three-game winning streak, he never wavered. For the most part, those guys were only starting to be his guys, but they were playing in his system, and when it didn't work, fans and shock jocks were calling for his head. But this was Mike Holmgren and this was football, the same game he coached at high schools back in San Francisco, the same system he learned under Bill Walsh, the same plan he used to win a Super Bowl in Green Bay. It takes time to form convictions. And make no mistake: Holmgren wasn't letting go. "We went through hell," said Gil Haskell, a longtime Holmgren assistant and the Seahawks' offensive coordinator. "You can say that word. Hell. We went through absolute hell for three years. And finally, we turned the corner." But why? As Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov put it, "Man is what he believes." And they believed all right. They believed in the plan, the system and, ultimately, belief itself. Because of all that, because this is finally his team — built his way, tailored for his system — the Seahawks boast Super expectations this season for the first time in two decades. Which, coincidentally, is how long it has been since they last won a playoff game. A long overhaul They held tight to the vision like gum to the bottom of a shoe, looking to build in Seattle what they built in Green Bay during the 1990s. They never knew it would take this long, piecing together a puzzle five years in the making. Holmgren took a Dennis Erickson-built team to the playoffs in his first year, 1999. This served only to tease fans and heighten the inevitable fall from grace. "When I got here in the 2000, clearly the team was going to be in a rebuilding mode for a year or two," said Ted Thompson, vice president of football operations. "There were players who had clearly played to their peak here in the past, and their careers were basically over. There were too many of them to replace right away. So you had to just start chipping away where you could." So they chipped. And they believed. The Seahawks didn't know how long it would take to work, but they knew one thing: eventually, it would. "We've been at this a while," Holmgren said. "It's proven. It works. It's what we've done our whole lives. You have to trust what's worked for you in the past. And there's no reason to think it shouldn't work here. "I tried to build it along similar lines. It just took a little longer." He paused. "A little longer."
In 2000, they signed free-agent center Robbie Tobeck and drafted running back Shaun Alexander and wide receiver Darrell Jackson. In 2001, they signed free-agent wideout Bobby Engram, drafted wide receiver Koren Robinson and guard Steve Hutchinson and traded for the puzzle's most important piece, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. This was the guy Holmgren was going to pin his future to, playing the one position more important than any other, a position Holmgren says "is so pivotal, because you pick the guy who you think is going to lead you to the Super Bowl." "One of the things that Mike would say a lot was, 'You've got to walk before you can run,' " Hasselbeck said. "That was a little frustrating for me at times. But in hindsight, obviously Mike Holmgren had a plan. I should have seen it. But for whatever reason I just got caught up in myself and wanting to be successful right away. I should have trusted him more and worried about the other stuff less." Those were the dark days — a 6-10 record in 2000, a 9-7 record in a 2001 in which they didn't make the playoffs and a mirror-image 7-9 record in 2002. During practices that last season, Haskell said, he could see the plan was working. Hasselbeck said the offense first played to its bursting potential in November against Kansas City. But after four years, the Seahawks' front office wasn't as convinced, and the mastermind lost his title of general manager and his entire defensive staff. In came defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes, new defensive coaches, new schemes and an emphasis on building young and fast. And then came last season, when the system started working and the offense, his offense, ranked among the best in the NFL, and the Seahawks made the playoffs. "You can go from a genius to an also-ran in one season. And back to a genius in the next," said Paul Johns, a receiver on the 1984 team who now works in the front office. "So you believe. You believe in your system. You believe it's going to work. And you stick with it. No matter what. "Think about that — the time he got to make this work. This is a society of instant gratification. People don't have the luxury of being patient anymore. Patience is a virtue possessed by few." Only one way to play Chuck Knox called it Seahawk Football, Johns remembers. And during that glorious stretch — by Seahawks' standards — in the early 1980s, that's what they played: Seahawk Football, the Chuck Knox way. "If you're going to fail, then you fail doing it your way," Johns said. "And I believe that's what coach Holmgren, Chuck Knox ... all your great coaches have taken that philosophy: 'If I'm going to get fired, then I'm going to get fired knowing I did it the way I wanted to do it.' Because what good is it to do it somebody else's way and get fired for that?" Johns can see the parallels between the last Seahawks to win a playoff game and the current team. Depth. Confidence. Coaches using their guys, their instincts, their systems. Quarterbacks doubling as leaders. Premier players at important skill positions. Even increased camaraderie built through more workouts together in the offseason. The 1984 team lost running back Curt Warner to injury in the first game, and the Seahawks lost in the second round of the playoffs. But Johns sees a major similarity. This team plays Seahawk Football, the Mike Holmgren way. But he hopes for a major difference.
High hopes That sets the table for the current season, for the Super expectations and a team that believes it can go as far as the Holmgren system will allow. The Seahawks added defensive end Grant Wistrom to bolster an average pass rush, upgraded in the secondary with free agent Bobby Taylor and draft pick Michael Boulware, beefed up the defensive line with draft pick Marcus Tubbs. The Seahawks also know that Chad Brown will miss some time with a broken leg, that the schedule appears harder than it was a year ago, that nobody takes them lightly anymore. Thompson compares building a team to climbing an icy mountain. Take two steps up, then slide back down. Over and over, until you're at the top. Sooner or later, their system works. They always believed that. "Vindication?" Thompson asked. "No. That's our job. We improve things. In some respects, we have. But this is still a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league. When we line up against New Orleans, everything is 0-0, and we start all over again. We start trying to get to the same place — the top of the mountain." Greg Bishop: 206-464-3191 or gbishop@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company
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