Sarlacc83 wrote:SmokinHawk wrote:Holmgren was a closed minded fool who refused to adapt to the NFL's changing landscape. He also never had any business stepping into an NFL front office. He was a good, if overrated, coach, but as a front office man, he was godawful.
It's an interesting contrast (and sometimes comparison) to Carroll in that their both men with strong convictions in their systems, but to this point, PC seems willing to adapt his to the ever changing landscape of the NFL. Moreover, that's probably because Carroll's system is almost more philosophical in nature (it's certainly at a higher level than the X's and O's) which makes it both easier and more difficult to abide by at this point.
Carroll's approach definitely attacks the heart of the matter much more thoroughly than Holmgren's did. Admittedly, Holmgren's entire tenure was subject to the suspect actions of every GM we had, including Holmgren, himself, but his teams were never as well coached as our Seahawks are now. It's safe to say that we're an absolute force in all three phases of the game, and that is something we dared not dream of during the Holmgren years. We had a fair to good (and one lousy year, great) offense, average to lousy defense, and special teams that ranged from good in the Burleson/Washington KR/PR years to hideously bad pre-2006. Good as some of Holmgren's teams were, they lived and died by their veteran starters. More often than not, the veterans underachieved, likely so that they could draw a consistent paycheck Over time the winning attitude would fade, coming to a head in 2008.
Carroll's philosophy isn't without its pitfalls, but it's a big part of why we have a locker room full of bad asses, rather than powder puffs. When Carroll took over, he got rid of the aging vets who were just using us as part of their retirement plans, and brought in a bunch of hungry rookies, UDFAs, and a veritable herd of cast offs, and managed two games better than the previous season (Jim Mora's 5-11 odyssey). Holmgren's philosophy was about scoring points and hanging on to leads. Carroll's philosophy is about building complete teams, with players who want to win.