Mike Holmgren Says He Is Setting The Foundation In Cleveland Properly

[Kosar_For_President]

Great read.

by Chris Fedor

When Mike Holmgren became the President of the Cleveland Browns he vowed to turn the franchise around and make the Browns a winner. While Holmgren inherited a mess and walked into the most dysfunctional franchise in the NFL thanks to the decision making of an ill-equipped owner, the Big Show is just 9-23 in his first two seasons running things in Cleveland. Coming off a 4-12 season, the Browns have three draft picks in the first 37 selections, and it will be an offseason that could shape the future of the franchise for years to come. Holmgren has preached patience to the restless fan base in Cleveland and has repeatedly talked about building the franchise the right way. The Browns defense has some solid pieces and showed growth this season, but the offense is a complete disaster.

The Browns have said they plan to build the foundation of the team through the draft as opposed to free agency. Mike Holmgren has a ton of credibility as a head coach, he can flash his Super Bowl ring, and he looks to have a competent GM in Cleveland with Tom Heckert, but Holmgren still has not identified the most important piece in a rebuilding process — the quarterback. Until he figures out that is, it’s tough to say he has the Browns headed in the right direction.

Mike Holmgren joined KJR in Seattle with Dave “Softy” Mahler to talk about how the city of Cleveland has treated him since joining the Browns franchise, what the philosophy is in Cleveland in terms of his rebuilding process, what he thinks about Colt McCoy as his quarterback of the future, what he thinks about playing a quarterback right away nowadays, and what the team plans to do with Peyton Hillis this offseason.

How he likes Cleveland:

“Cleveland is great. The city here and the people are tremendous. We’re working like crazy to give them a better product on the field. Pat Shurmur had his press conference on Tuesday and then Tom Heckert, my general manager and I, had one. I assured them yesterday we’re working like crazy to do this properly. The problem is, and you guys know this better than anybody, when you struggle on the field like we have the last few years, they so desperately want their team to do better and they’re great fans here. So to ask them to be patient, that’s a tough ask. I assured them yesterday, I said look we’re not gonna do this for the quick fix, we’re gonna set this foundation properly. I want this place to be a good place for a long, long time to come. We have a plan and we’re gonna do it this way and people might be a little mad at me about it, but we’re sticking with it. I trust the guys I’m working with and that’s how we’re gonna do it.”

What the philosophy is in Cleveland:

“There’s a certain way I believe you build the team in the National Football League. You build it through the draft and Tom Heckert has done a great job here in two drafts and we have a lot of picks coming up in this draft. We have a lot of young players playing a lot and as a result we play young at times. We build it in the draft, try not to make too many mistakes there and then selectively go into free agency. I think we all saw teams last season, the spectacular free agent offseasons don’t necessarily guarantee success so we have to use our money properly, make good decisions, but that’s how we’re building our football team. That along with finding the quarterback which is the key to the whole deal.”

What he thinks of Colt McCoy:

“I love Colt McCoy for all the reasons that we all like Colt McCoy. He’s a great young man, he’s tough. If there’s one thing I know it’s hers tough, he got banged around a little bit. But this last season I had to learn some things and give him a real shot to play. Kinda handed the position to him and Seneca handled that beautifully in my opinion so we went through the season, of course it’s well documented that Colt got banged around at the end of the season, but I just made the statement this next year that we’re gonna open up all the positions to some really healthy competition as well as the quarterback position. I had that conversation with Colt and of course I had the conversation with Pat Shurmur because he’s the coach before I talked to Colt, but Colt knows. He’s not afraid of competition. He’s been competing his whole life. It’s always been my philosophy when dealing with the players to shoot straight with them. They may not necessarily like the conversation but at least they know you’re shooting straight, you’re honest with them, and then they go on from there and do what they have to do.”

Whether or not he thinks it is a good thing to play a young QB early like Joe Flacco and Andy Dalton:

“I will stick by my statement. I think it’s one of the hardest things to do in sports and I do think it does take some time and you look at the teams that go to and what those teams do. In the case of Flacco and Dalton both of them had a big stud running back and a good running game and this year Cincinnati really came on and Baltimore is there and they have a good defensive team. So if you’re gonna have a young quarterback and thrust a young quarterback into a situation like that and have him play it really helps and he’s gonna show better if he has those guys around him. We went in this year, and heck it happens to everybody, but we lost our number one running back to injury and our number two running back, our running game which we were counting on, we needed that to do what we wanted to do in this offense and we got stunned early. It’s part of the game but we got stunned early. That put a little more pressure on Colt than I wanted to have on him early. That was real. I still think it takes a little while to do this.”

What the status is of Peyton Hillis:

“Here’s where I have to tell you what I told the guys here otherwise I don’t know what would happen. Peyton is a free agent and how we handle our free agents we’re not ready to discuss that right now. We were counting on Peyton a lot. He’s a really fine football player and then he got hurt. This thing got blown out of proportion in a lot of ways but he was injured. Then he came back in the last three or four games of the season and you saw the glimpses of what he had hoped we would have all season long and it was just too bad. It’s a frustration for a new, young head coach in Pat Shurmur but it was what it was.”

LINK

[BendMeOver]

What do you expect Mike Holmgren to say, "I'm trying screw the Browns up worse than Matt Millen did with the Lions?"

[jrb12711]

Well it's completely true, if you try and make your team solely around FA signing's and miss on the draft it doesn't lead to success. The fact of the matter is that when H&H took over this team there was MAYBE a handful of guys I felt were even pro caliber NFL players. In the last two drafts we've gotten 5 starters. The bottom line is that we have to hit offensive talent in this draft. The argument for or against Colt is there but there's way too much talent from QB to WR to RB to OL in top rounds for us to miss on them. With as many first and second day draft picks we have I hope all but one is used on the offensive side.

[Kosar_For_President]

Endymion said:

What do you expect Mike Holmgren to say, "I'm trying screw the Browns up worse than Matt Millen did with the Lions?"

He's not. He's building through the draft. The drafts Heckert has have been awesome. Yea we missed on Jones, but Blackman is better and we get their #22.

Millen's drafts were the worst in league history.

[choco]

heckerts drafts have been OK....hardly awesome. some good young talent, some risk picks that weren't so hot.

however, the draft ios only one of heckerts jobs. FA was a complete no show...the few he did sign were were weak depth.

[Kosar_For_President]

@choco said:

heckerts drafts have been OK....hardly awesome. some good young talent, some risk picks that weren't so hot.

however, the draft ios only one of heckerts jobs. FA was a complete no show...the few he did sign were were weak depth.

I disagree. Compare them to other teams and we are defo in the top 10 maybe top 5 for the last 2 years. Sure some 5th, 6th, etc picks don't work out. Our first picks have been good. Unfourtunely most of them were on defense. Trust in the Walrus and Heckert, this is going to turn out good, just watch. On to the offense this year.

Check the highlighted sentence in my first post. 100% true.

"I think we all saw teams last season, the spectacular free agent offseasons don’t necessarily guarantee success so we have to use our money properly, make good decisions, but that’s how we’re building our football team". Philly, the Jets, etc, they all sign a bunch in FA for nothing.

I am 100% certain the Browns are not taking a QB.

[jrb12711]

@kosar_for_president said:

I disagree. Compare them to other teams and we are defo in the top 10 maybe top 5 for the last 2 years. Sure some 5th, 6th, etc picks don't work out. Our first picks have been good. Unfourtunely most of them were on defense. Trust in the Walrus and Heckert, this is going to turn out good, just watch. On to the offense this year.

Check the highlighted sentence in my first post. 100% true.

"I think we all saw teams last season, the spectacular free agent offseasons don’t necessarily guarantee success so we have to use our money properly, make good decisions, but that’s how we’re building our football team". Philly, the Jets, etc, they all sign a bunch in FA for nothing.

I am 100% certain the Browns are not taking a QB.

I think they'll take a QB in the draft but I feel it's going to be in the 3rd or 4th round range or later. Holmgren has made it clear he wants a QB competition coming into training camp this year and unless Seneca gets three wishes from a genie he can't compete for a starting position.

[choco]

haden - good pick...no brainer.

ward - ok pick....good run support, pass liability. injury issues recently.

hardesty - not only a bad pick, but we spent 2 additional 5ths to move up.

colt - ok pick....will be a backup soon. still a good value pick.

lavauo - bad pick....started, but got handled all year. needs replaced.

asante - bad pick....didn't make the cut

mitchell - bad pick....who?

geathers - bad pick...off the team.

taylor - good pick....should form a good tandem with rubin.

sheard - good pick....looks legit

little - ok pick.....he'll round into a decent player i think, but rookie year was rough.

cameron - bad pick....has potential. project TE in the forth?

maercic - ok pick....got better as the year wore on. still too small for those shoes tho...

skrine - ok pick...little speedster may make fine nickel back.

pinkston - good pick....held up OK as a 6th round starting guard. should get better...

hagg - ok pick....wanna see more...

jmo...but just because they're sere alot of rookie starters doesn't mean they deserved it or excelled. pinky was the only one i thought stepped in during a crisis and elevated his game.

[Kosar_For_President]

@choco said:

haden - good pick...no brainer.

ward - ok pick....good run support, pass liability. injury issues recently.

hardesty - not only a bad pick, but we spent 2 additional 5ths to move up.

colt - ok pick....will be a backup soon. still a good value pick.

lavauo - bad pick....started, but got handled all year. needs replaced.

asante - bad pick....didn't make the cut

mitchell - bad pick....who?

geathers - bad pick...off the team.

taylor - good pick....should form a good tandem with rubin.

sheard - good pick....looks legit

little - ok pick.....he'll round into a decent player i think, but rookie year was rough.

cameron - bad pick....has potential. project TE in the forth?

maercic - ok pick....got better as the year wore on. still too small for those shoes tho...

skrine - ok pick...little speedster may make fine nickel back.

pinkston - good pick....held up OK as a 6th round starting guard. should get better...

hagg - ok pick....wanna see more...

jmo...but just because they're sere alot of rookie starters doesn't mean they deserved it or excelled. pinky was the only one i thought stepped in during a crisis and elevated his game.

That is a damn good ratio man. Only 2 years. I think Ward was a good pick. Cameron sucks agreed. When some of these picks don't work out, you are still building the team with depth.

[The Gipper]

@choco said:

haden - good pick...no brainer.

ward - ok pick....good run support, pass liability. injury issues recently. I think he was better than OK...when he played.

hardesty - not only a bad pick, but we spent 2 additional 5ths to move up.

colt - ok pick....will be a backup soon. still a good value pick.

lavauo - bad pick....started, but got handled all year. needs replaced.

I don't think any player that becomes a starter should be considered "bad". I would say he is a neutral pick....and the fact is, if he had a better RT next to him, his value could improve.

asante - bad pick....didn't make the cut

mitchell - bad pick....who? Just being on the team as a 6th pick is an accomplishment. Need to note his injury situation as well.

geathers - bad pick...off the team.

taylor - good pick....should form a good tandem with rubin.

sheard - good pick....looks legit

little - ok pick.....he'll round into a decent player i think, but rookie year was rough.

cameron - bad pick....has potential. project TE in the forth?

Not a "bad pick"...a 'too soon to tell' pick I would say.

maercic - ok pick....got better as the year wore on. still too small for those shoes tho...

skrine - ok pick...little speedster may make fine nickel back.

pinkston - good pick....held up OK as a 6th round starting guard. should get better...

hagg - ok pick....wanna see more...

jmo...but just because they're sere alot of rookie starters doesn't mean they deserved it or excelled. pinky was the only one i thought stepped in during a crisis and elevated his game.

[bringbackbrownie2]

@choco said:

haden - good pick...no brainer.

ward - ok pick....good run support, pass liability. injury issues recently.

hardesty - not only a bad pick, but we spent 2 additional 5ths to move up.

colt - ok pick....will be a backup soon. still a good value pick.

lavauo - bad pick....started, but got handled all year. needs replaced.

asante - bad pick....didn't make the cut

mitchell - bad pick....who?

geathers - bad pick...off the team.

taylor - good pick....should form a good tandem with rubin.

sheard - good pick....looks legit

little - ok pick.....he'll round into a decent player i think, but rookie year was rough.

cameron - bad pick....has potential. project TE in the forth?

maercic - ok pick....got better as the year wore on. still too small for those shoes tho...

skrine - ok pick...little speedster may make fine nickel back.

pinkston - good pick....held up OK as a 6th round starting guard. should get better...

hagg - ok pick....wanna see more...

jmo...but just because they're sere alot of rookie starters doesn't mean they deserved it or excelled. pinky was the only one i thought stepped in during a crisis and elevated his game.

I agree with your assessment except for Cameron. He hardly played football in college and still has a lot to learn. He is still a question mark at this point so you can't label him as a good or bad pick yet.

But you also have to look at the big picture. No team has a perfect draft. Every GM makes good picks and bad picks. The key is to pick well with your early picks and get lucky on your late round picks. The past 2 years we have done that. Haden, Ward, Taylor, Sheard, and Little were all good picks. Hardesty is the only pick within the first 2 rounds that has bust written all over him. 5/6 is a damn good ratio and miles ahead of the crap early draft picks we had before Heckert. That is why I am excited for this year's draft with two 1sts and a 2nd rounder to add to our early round success. Our 3rd rounder and the two 4ths might be the key to next season and I'm hopeful Heckert can make at least 4 of those picks really count!

[Canton Mike]

Lavauo...Was basically a rookie playing beside a weak tackle. Give him time.

Cameron...I think this guy may be the sleeper of last year's draft for us. Time will tell.

Any draft is going to have hits & misses. Compared to prior years, I think the last 2 have been fine. We just need more & this year we need offensive play makers. We'll see what happens, but I do trust our decision makers.

Mike

[BrownIndian]

At point to we go FA ? By the time we get 80% of the team built, the early drafters would want to move somewhere else or would be on the verge of retiring.

[choco]

keep in mind, most of those opinions are based on production vs. value of pick....

like skrine....he got spot duty and played ok, but at 6th round value its a better pick than lavauo starting and getting his ass handed to him at 3rd round.

also, i try to give 3 years before really judging a player. can mitchell become relevant? im more than willing to give him the time to prove it. cameron has potential...sure....but not in the 4th. FB? quite a few headscratchers in those drafts, but we'll see soon enough.

[choco]

@brownindian said:

At point to we go FA ? By the time we get 80% of the team built, the early drafters would want to move somewhere else or would be on the verge of retiring.

not so heavily this year....come 2013, they'll have all the cap spent (by new CBA). honestly tho, we'd have to see who's available after the tags get placed to see if there's any fits.