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The 2008 NFL season will be the year of the Coach in Waiting.
Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren will step down after this season, and defensive-backs coach Jim Mora Jr. is set to take over in 2009.
Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy has designated assistant head coach/quarterbacks Jim Caldwell as his replacement for whenever Dungy retires, which could be after the 2008 season.
These situations could be awkward for players and coaches, but the Seahawks, who will be seeking a fourth straight NFC West championship, believe the transition will be easier than starting from scratch with a new regime in 2009.
“If anything,” said quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, “it motivates us even more to say, ‘Hey, let’s send this guy out the right way. Let’s not take any shortcuts this year. Let’s not wait until some season down the line. Let’s get it done right now.”
Holmgren, 59, emphasized that he is not retiring. He prefers the term sabbatical and even said he could return to football somewhere down the road. But he is at the end of his contract, and this will be his 10th season with the Seahawks, which seems to be the shelf life for an NFL coach in the salary cap/free agent era.
“Everybody in the building is committed to making it work,” Holmgren told reporters at the NFL scouting combine. “It is unusual. But I think there are some real positives to it.
“I’m letting it all out. What the heck? I want to do well. We have a good team, and we can challenge for the ultimate prize, I think. So we have to approach it correctly.”
Mora was head coach at Atlanta during 2004-06, guiding the Falcons to the NFC championship game in 2004. He was a candidate for the Miami Dolphins head coaching job but pulled out when the opportunity in Seattle arose.
“This makes a lot of sense for the organization,” Holmgren said. “Jim is a talented coach who has already had a measure of success in this league and has all the tools here needed to succeed.”
Although Holmgren’s departure doesn’t take effect until next season, the Seattle coaching staff has undergone an overhaul. In part because former quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn left to become head coach at Washington and took assistants with him, Seattle’s staff has five new assistants, including offensive-line coach Mike Solari, a former Chiefs assistant and offensive coordinator
The Seahawks will have a different look offensively after releasing running back Shaun Alexander, the club’s all-time leading rusher and 2005 league MVP when the club went to the Super Bowl. The Seahawks’ running game averaged just 101.2 yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry last season, the worst under Holmgren. So they brought in veterans Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett as replacements for Alexander, who battled injuries the last two seasons.
“We need name tags,” joked Hasselbeck. “Or at least tape (with names) on the helmet. There are a lot of new people and a lot of new running plays. Mike Solari has done a great job of bringing everyone together and installing some new ideas in the running game.
“We said at the end of (2007) this team is going to be different this year. It always is. I don’t know that any of us would have predicted as much change and as much turnover as there’s been, but it’s part of the job.”
Next: NFC South
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