Former Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren has moved back to the Seattle area after his three-year run as the right-hand man to former owner Randy Lerner. Holmgren was let go as team president after Jimmy Haslam bought the team from Lerner last year.
Holmgren joined the Dave “Softy” Mahler show on Sports Radio KJR in Seattle Thursday to discuss his tenure with the Browns and if he has any future plans for returning to the NFL.
“It would be a big surprise to be honest,” Holmgren said.
Holmgren didn’t completely rule out the possibility of returning because he still has the itch to coach. He said having to watch games from the owner’s box for Browns games and not be able to affect the outcome of games was a difficult thing for him to handle. He doesn’t know if that itch to coach will ever leave, but he feels pretty comfortable with him situation at the moment.
“I don’t know if that ever just flat leaves you. I really don’t,” Holmgren said. "...Right now, I’m feeling pretty good about stuff. Now what happens is after about a month, a month-and-a-half, Kathy doesn’t want me around the house. Then you go, OK, where do I go? I could walk down the street to the barber shop and hang out there. That I’m sure is coming down the horn. We’ll just have to see. Take it one day at a time.”
Holmgren said he understood being let go by Haslam but he believes they build a solid base for new general manager Michael Lombardi and head coach Rob Chudzinski to build on.
“The hard part was I think we had built a pretty good foundation,” Holmgren said. “We didn’t produce on the field like I would like, but I think moving forward, keep an eye on them. I think they’re going to be fine.”
