For Holmgren, One Job Is Enough

Mike Holmgren stepped down as general manager of the Seattle Seahawks but will remain the coach, a move he hopes will help the team win a Super Bowl someday.

“We wanted to free up Mike to do more coaching,” Seahawk President Bob Whitsitt said Tuesday. “I just think there’s so much to do. There’s only so many hours in a day.”

Holmgren insisted on being the Seahawks’ general manager when he left the Green Bay Packers four years ago. However, he said he was giving up this job willingly.

“I think the biggest title you can have is Super Bowl champion,” said Holmgren, who won the NFL title at Green Bay.

“It wasn’t a particularly difficult thing for me. My No. 1 goal is winning.”

The Seahawks, 7-9, missed the playoffs but finished the season with three consecutive victories, including a 31-28 overtime win over San Diego on Sunday.

Holmgren is 31-33 since taking over as coach and general manager in 1999. The Seahawks went 9-7, 6-10 and 9-7 in Holmgren’s first three seasons, with one playoff appearance: a 20-17 loss to Miami in a 1999 wild-card game.

He signed a $32-million, eight-year contract to handle both jobs in Seattle after coaching the Packers to a 75-37 record and two Super Bowl appearances in seven seasons.

Whitsitt said he didn’t have a candidate to succeed Holmgren as general manager.

However, there has been speculation that he’s interested in hiring Randy Mueller, former general manager of the New Orleans Saints who was Seahawks’ general manager from 1995-99.

Mueller spent last season out of football after being fired by the Saints.

In other changes, the Seahawks fired defensive coordinator Steve Sidwell, line coach Larry Brooks, linebackers coach Johnny Holland, secondary coach Ken Flajole and offensive assistant and quality control coach Jerry Colquitt.

“They were friends,” Holmgren said. “We’ve been together a long time. It was not a very fun thing to do.”

Players generally supported Holmgren as a coach.

“He’s the finest head coach I’ve ever played for and I admire him greatly,” said quarterback Trent Dilfer, who won a Super Bowl while playing for Brian Billick in Baltimore. “I really hope for the opportunity to play for him again.”

*

Jerry Jones knows all about Bill Parcells’ history of walking away from deals. So the Dallas Cowboys’ owner wants to announce an agreement as soon as he can.

As of Tuesday, he was still waiting. And he probably will be until at least Thursday, despite reports that Parcells already has agreed to a four-year contract to coach the team.

Newsday reported on its Web site Tuesday night that the Cowboys would formally introduce Parcells as their coach on Thursday.

Maybe nothing more than logistics and the New Year’s holiday are in the way. Still, Parcells’ track record raises some doubt about whether the coach known for turning around woeful teams will try doing so with the Cowboys.

Parcells jilted Tampa Bay twice and Atlanta once. Last year, he got so close with the Buccaneers that he signed a contract, and now Tampa Bay wants compensation from any team that hires him.

The Buccaneers will present their case to the commissioner’s office Thursday.

Newsday cited two sources familiar with the situation as saying Tampa Bay would not receive any compensation because the deal Parcells signed was not forwarded to the league office and therefore never approved by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

The Dallas Morning News, citing an unidentified source, reported that Parcells accepted a four-year contract that will pay about $4.5 million a season, let him hire his assistants and give him a strong say on roster decisions.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, citing unidentified sources, reported similar financial terms.

Parcells, however, told several New York newspapers that nothing was completed, although he acknowledged that a deal could soon be reached.

Cowboy spokesman Rich Dalrymple said Tuesday no announcements were planned.

*

After meeting with quarterback Trent Green, Kansas City Chief officials are confident they’ll work out a new contract and prorate the $8-million roster bonus their quarterback is due in March.

Also coming back will be defensive coordinator Greg Robinson, whom many fans wanted dismissed.

The Chiefs, desperate to rebuild the NFL’s worst defense, need to get Green’s bonus prorated in order to gain more room under their salary cap. They could do that by reworking the five years left on Green’s contract and making it a signing bonus.

Coach Dick Vermeil and team President Carl Peterson each met personally with Green.

“He wants to be here. He wants to be a Chief,” Vermeil said. “He wants to get it done quickly.”

*

The New York Giants signed veteran long-snapper Trey Junkin and put long-snapper Dan O’Leary, who has a torn thumb ligament, on injured reserve.