Les Carpenter / Times staff columnist
Pressure is building in Kirkland

ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES Coach Mike Holmgren, left, and team president Bob Whitsitt appear to be locked in a power struggle.

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Several days ago, eager to duck a barrage of news-conference questions about the sudden demise of his hand-picked quarterback, Mike Holmgren suddenly found himself on the beach.

"How about Miami?" someone asked.

The Miami Herald had run a story suggesting the Seahawks' coach might have interest in abandoning showery practices and an underachieving offense to escape to a place barren of talent but abundant in sunshine. Given that the Miami Dolphins had just forced coach Dave Wannstedt out the door, the timing seemed quick.

But a Herald source close to Holmgren raved about the job, gushing over owner Wayne Huizenga.

"(Huizenga) gives his coaches the freedom to do pretty much anything they want," the source said. "It's a great situation, one of the best in the league."

But with the Seahawks tied at the time for first place in the NFC West, the thought of Holmgren taking his West Coast offense and running off to a team without a serviceable quarterback or running back seemed absurd. A local talk-show host raised his hand and practically begged Holmgren to shoot down the rumor.

Sunday Buffalo Bills @ Seattle Seahawks, 1:15 p.m., Ch. 7

"Really? Can I go on the record here?" Holmgren asked, despite the fact that he was in a news conference that was broadcast and televised live and that everything he said was on the record. For the next two minutes, he talked about how much he loved Seattle and how his wife, Kathy, was on the board of many community groups and how he doesn't want to coach anywhere else.

"I want to finish my career here, and that's it," he said.

And that was the end of any talk about Holmgren leaving ...

For about three days.

Last Sunday, Holmgren's hometown paper, the San Francisco Chronicle, ran a story again quoting anonymous people close to the coach. This time the subject was Seattle, and it painted a far gloomier picture than the glowing endorsement of Miami.

The San Francisco story pointed out that the nucleus of Holmgren's team — quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, running back Shaun Alexander, tackle Walter Jones, guard Steve Hutchinson and cornerback Ken Lucas — will be free agents either at the end of this year or next year. And it wondered why owner Paul Allen had made no attempt to sign any of them.

"People close to Holmgren say he is particularly upset that Hasselbeck was allowed to play out his contract and believes the contract issue weighs heavily on the quarterback's mind and has contributed to his struggles on the field," the story said.

It went on to say that Holmgren and team president Bob Whitsitt do not get along and blamed Whitsitt for running off Holmgren's salary-cap expert, Mike Reinfeldt. The article implied that the reason Hasselbeck hasn't received a new contract is because Whitsitt took so much heat for overpaying for defensive end Grant Wistrom and wide receiver Darrell Jackson in his two big offseason moves.

"Holmgren has two years remaining on his contract, but odds are either he or Whitsitt will be gone after the season," the article said.

While it's no secret around the league that there has been friction between Holmgren and Whitsitt, the fact that the San Francisco Chronicle quoted a source close to Holmgren makes this the first time one side has publicly acknowledged a dispute. This was the first winter in which Holmgren seemed to lose personnel power. Even though he agreed to give up his title as general manager on New Year's Eve of 2002, he maintained a cloister of his executives around him, including Reinfeldt.

But after the fiscally cautious Reinfeldt was chased away, Holmgren was strangely absent at free-agent signings. The day the Seahawks re-signed Jackson above his market value, Holmgren was seen walking to his car rather than to the news conference to announce the team had retained his top receiver.

Something is clearly not right in Kirkland. Holmgren is a better coach than he has been this year. Much of the old fire from his Green Bay days or even at the end of 2002 — when he decided he loved his team more than an executive title — appears to be missing. His public ambivalence to Koren Robinson's four-game suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy has surprised many. Much of the old offensive wizardry and the great week-to-week adjustments have been missing.

Perhaps a story in the Miami Herald anonymously quoting a source close to him could be explained away. Maybe a writer misconstrued what was being said. But not two stories with similar sources in the same week — especially when the second story was written by a writer who has known Holmgren since he was an assistant with the 49ers and is someone the coach has opened up to in the past.

Holmgren has always craved power. When he first agreed to coach the Seahawks, his agent, Bob LaMonte, insisted the deal depended on a meeting between Holmgren and Allen. When the two finally dined, LaMonte said, "There was just great coalescence between Mike and Paul."

In time, Holmgren discovered that he was working not for Allen but for Whitsitt.

Now, with Whitsitt, a basketball executive by trade, flexing his power in the Seahawks' front office, everyone is left to wonder whether Holmgren's insistence that he wants to stay is simply a smokescreen covering his interest in another place.

Or if he's forcing the ultimate showdown for control of the Seahawks.

Les Carpenter: 206-464-2280 or lcarpenter@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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