Holmgren to sit out 2009 -- and that's final!

Holmgren to sit out 2009 -- and that's final!
Seahawks coach intends to honor promise to family
By CLARE FARNSWORTH
P-I REPORTER

RENTON -- His name has been linked to possible openings in San Francisco, Dallas and Washington for next season.

But outgoing Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren stated Wednesday, in his strongest terms yet, that he plans to take the 2009 season off and then determine whether he will return to the NFL in 2010.

"You can't stop anyone from saying or writing -- as you well know -- anything they want to write or say," Holmgren said. "I'm telling you what I'm going to do. I'm going to take some time off and not think about this for a while.

"That way if ever I get a chance to make another decision, perhaps, at least I will have given it a suitable time of rest and clearing my mind so you can attempt to make a decent decision. And that's what I'm going to do."

Holmgren has made a promise to his wife, Kathy, and their family that he will take a year off, and intends to honor that commitment.

His immediate plans call for focusing on his final game with the Seahawks -- Sunday in Arizona against the NFC West champion Cardinals. After that, he will take a couple of weeks to "get my affairs in order," as he put it. Then, it's back to Phoenix, and the home he owns there, with Kathy to "kick back."

Holmgren said he plans to spend the summer in California, at the cabin they are building in the hills near Santa Cruz. He said they may live in their Kirkland condo next season.

"I have to figure out how we are going to do that," Holmgren said. "The beauty of the thing is, I don't know. I can wake up and say, 'Let's go there,' and 'Let's do this.' I won't have to set my alarm (clock). I have been setting my alarm for 45 years."

But what if the itch to get back into coaching or take a front-office job goes off instead of that alarm? Holmgren admits that he's aware of what's going on in the league, as far as possible openings next year compared to 2010.

"I can honestly say, I'm not going into this that way," Holmgren said.

Instead, he's more concerned about two things.

"I want to see how I'm going to react to not working and my life being different. That's the first thing," he said. "Then, after that -- which will be way down the road -- there will be time to think about (getting back into the game). I'm not going to say, 'Gee, I missed an opportunity there.' I don't want to get into that. The timing is what it is. And I'm not going to worry about that anymore.

"I used to think about it a little bit, worry about it. I think most coaches do: 'Gee, I missed an opportunity here.' Now, the beauty of this is I don't have to do that anymore."

HAWK TALK: Linebackers Leroy Hill (stinger) and D.D. Lewis (bruised shin) will not play Sunday, Holmgren said. That means Will Herring, a 2007 fifth-round draft pick from Auburn, will make his second consecutive start. Holmgren also said it was unlikely that the club will make a roster move by putting either Hill or Lewis on injured reserved and signing another player. ... Matt Hasselbeck (bulging disk) will be the emergency third quarterback, so Seneca Wallace will make his eighth start of the season, and fourth in a row. ... The Cardinals are listed as six-point favorites Sunday. Arizona won the first meeting 26-20.




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