Former Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren has advanced as one of five coach nominees in the process for possible election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2027.
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Mike Holmgren, the first coach to lead the Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl and a member of the team’s Ring of Honor, has advanced as one of five coach nominees in the process for possible election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2027.
According to the Hall’s coach selection process, Holmgren was among five coaches to advance from an initial group of 14 candidates. The other coaches listed as advancing were Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Dan Reeves and Mike Shanahan.
Members of the Hall of Fame’s coach subcommittee will meet virtually on November 17 to select one candidate to present to the full selection committee for consideration for the Class of 2027.
Holmgren coached the Seahawks for 10 seasons from 1999 to 2008 and is described as having taken Seattle to six playoff berths and five division titles, including the franchise’s first NFC championship.
Before Holmgren took over in Green Bay in 1992, the Packers had two playoff berths and five winning seasons over 24 years following their 1967 Super Bowl-winning season. In his seven seasons with the Packers, the team recorded a winning record every year, made six playoff appearances, won three division titles and reached back-to-back Super Bowls.
In 17 seasons as a head coach, Holmgren compiled a 161-111 regular-season record and went 13-11 in the playoffs, taking his teams to three Super Bowls while winning one Lombardi Trophy with Green Bay.
The Seahawks’ team note also highlighted Holmgren’s coaching tree and his role in the development of Hall of Fame quarterbacks Steve Young and Brett Favre, along with Seahawks Ring of Honor member Matt Hasselbeck. It says Holmgren helped Joe Montana enjoy what it describes as some of the best seasons of his career, including back-to-back MVP awards in 1989 and 1990 after Holmgren became San Francisco’s offensive coordinator.
Holmgren’s supporters included Montana, who wrote in a 2019 letter to the Pro Hall of Fame selection committee that “Mike was like Bill Walsh in many ways, especially in the way he demanded perfection,” adding that his “attention to detail helped make me and our offense better.”
The note also includes Favre’s support in a letter saying, “I know without a doubt I would not be where I am today without him,” and that the MVPs he won were “a direct result of his coaching and leadership,” including that he “taught me how to play the QB position.”
Young’s letter said Holmgren “really reflects all these great quarterback whisperers,” and added that Holmgren “individualized his approach,” noting, “I needed somebody who treated me as unique, who wasn’t going to just lay his coaching principals on top of me.”
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