SEAHAWKS: Cowherd: Holmgren mailed it in according to source

During his Friday ESPN show, Colin Cowherd revealed that he was told by an unnamed source late in the 2008 season that Mike Holmgren had given up, "mailed it in."

Here's the full quote from Cowherd:

A source told me late, like Week 13 or Week 14 in the NFL season, a source that does not want to be identified on this network, that Mike Holmgren had essentially mailed it in. Very little energy, looking forward to retirement. Putting in 9-5 hours. Bill Belichick is going 5-9 p.m. There was very little cohesiveness. He was on his way out before Jim Mora took the job over. And it was sort of a un-energized last year in Seattle. Not that he mailed it in by your standards or my standards, but by NFL standards, 17 hours a day, Holmgren wasn't there emotionally.

By week 14, the Seahawks were 2-11 on the season, though they finished the final three weeks 2-1. Obviously not everyone had given up on winning, Holmgren likely included.

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In reaction to the allegations, Tim Hasselbeck spoke here on KIRO about the struggles Holmgren and the team went through.

He said that in all his conversations with his brother Matt Hasselbeck, Holmgren giving less than full effort never came up.

Mike Sando of ESPN had his own comments on why the allegations may be less than accurate.

His four major points were:
1. Holmgren always worked short hours for an NFL head coach as teaching during practice and gameday playcalling were his greatest strengths.
2. Teaching the system was more important to him than adjusting it for upcoming opponents.
3. The team was already in transition to a new regime, and some in the organization were already looking ahead toward the future.
4. Between the injuries and all the losing, the year was certainly difficult on Holmgren.

Going into the season, many prognosticators figured that Holmgren's lame duck status would be a hindrance to the team. Obviously no one could have foreseen the enormous rash of injuries though, and it's likely the team would have struggled with or without a lame duck coach.

If anything, it's just another in a long list of reasons, or excuses depending on how you view it, of why the Seahawks fell so abruptly to bottom-feader status last season.

Whether he mailed it in or not at the end of the year though, the Seahawks are in no way better off without the most successful coach in franchise history.

Reach Jeff Richards at nextseasonsports@gmail.com