Next Seahawks GM should be Mike Holmgren

What if Mike Holmgren is available?

I mean, he is coming back to the NFL next season, right? And do you really think he's going to Cleveland? The Marshall Plan was easier to execute than the plan that's needed to fix the Cleveland Browns.

Holmgren would need to be paid LeBron James money to go to Cleveland and mop up that mess of a franchise. I don't believe he wants that job, no matter how big the size of his paycheck.

There are better opportunities waiting for him. There are easier fixer-upper teams than the Browns.

Take the Seahawks for instance.

Why not give Mike Holmgren a second chance at the general manager's job in Seattle? He could do it. Before Tim Ruskell replaced him at GM, Holmgren put together the core of the 2005 team that went to the Super Bowl in Detroit.

He gets hammered for some of the picks he made then, picks like defensive end Lamar King and offensive tackle Chris McIntosh, but Holmgren also chose Steve Hutchinson, Shaun Alexander, Marcus Trufant, Sean Locklear and Craig Terrill.

As problematic as first-rounders Jerramy Stevens and Koren Robinson were, there is no denying their talent or their contributions to the Seahawks' growth.

When Holmgren came to Seattle from Green Bay, he made the Seahawks relevant again. The nation paid attention to Seattle. And the Seahawks won like they'd never won before.

In March 2001, Holmgren changed the franchise's fortunes by making the trade that brought quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to Seattle. He fixed the position that had been a revolving door since Dave Krieg left in 1991.

Hasselbeck was a sixth-round pick, who had thrown 29 passes in Green Bay, but Holmgren, who had been his coach there, knew he had the right stuff.

The Seahawks are about to make the most important decision a franchise can make. They have to find the next Hasselbeck

No team can win without the right quarterback. Look at the Hawks' decade of futility. The recurring theme in all of those seasons from 1992 to Hasselbeck was the lack of quality quarterbacking.

In that dark decade, they tried Stan Gelbaugh, Kelly Stouffer, Dan McGwire, Rick Mirer, John Friesz, Jon Kitna. Warren Moon did what he could, but he was in the twilight of his career. The Seahawks didn't start winning division championships until Hasselbeck arrived.

Who would be better to pick Hasselbeck's successor than the man who brought him to Seattle?

When it comes to quarterbacks, Holmgren has the touch of Midas. He developed Brett Favre. Steve Young was lame at Tampa Bay and a Hall of Famer with Holmgren in San Francisco.

Trent Dilfer was at his most productive under Holmgren and Joe Montana had his best season when Holmgren was his quarterback coach.

How important is the quarterback? The Indianapolis Colts keep changing wide receivers and keep winning because of Peyton Manning. Ditto the New England Patriots and Tom Brady.

Holmgren, not Ruskell, is the man to find that next quarterback for the Seahawks.

I don't think Holmgren truly ever wanted to leave. I think those last few winters when, as the Seahawks' coach, he asked for time to think about returning, he hadn't lost his passion for the game.

But his relationship with Ruskell had become so contentious, Holmgren needed time to consider whether he wanted to continue the fight.

He was not-so-gently nudged out the door. Isn't it time to reopen that door and restore that pervasive air of intolerance toward losing that Holmgren always exuded?

For most of this season, I thought Ruskell, whose contract is up after this season, deserved a two-year extension. He needed more time with his hand-picked coach, Jim Mora, and he needed time with his latest draft class.

I also thought that teams that continue to rip and tear at their structure, teams like Cleveland and Oakland, wallow at the bottoms of their divisions for years.

But the Seahawks are in a death spiral and the defense that Ruskell has put together has allowed 56 points and 746 total yards in the past six quarters. The Hawks have won only seven of their past 27 games. They need a shake-up at the top.

Do we really want Ruskell making the call on next April's two No. 1 picks?

Holmgren is having his season in the sun, his quiet time away from the game. But I imagine his pulse is beginning to quicken again and his hunger is being restored. I think he's ready to return.

The answer to a brighter future, I believe, is in the Seahawks' past.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com