FLOWERY BRANCH — During his time in the NFL, Mike Holmgren earned a reputation for drafting and developing quarterbacks.
“I coached quarterbacks my whole life,” Holmgren told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an exclusive interview. “I started coaching quarterbacks back in high school. I coached them to BYU. I coached quarterbacks … as a head coach. I still coached the quarterbacks, even though I had a quarterback coach. That was fun for me.”
Holmgren was a high school quarterback legend in San Francisco (Prep Athlete of the Year, 1965) and went on to play at USC. He spent some time on the old taxi squads of the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Jets.
He was a high school teacher before he started coaching in college. He ended up at BYU in 1982 as the quarterbacks coach, and Andy Reid was a graduate assistant.
The Falcons are in the process of attempting to develop Desmond Ridder, a third-round pick, into an NFL quarterback. Falcons coach Arthur Smith doesn’t know Holmgren, but has studied his work for years.
“Again, I’ve never talked to him, but I’ve read a lot about him,” Smith said. “Bill Walsh hired him out of BYU. He was looking for the best quarterback coach in the country. They gave (Walsh) the name and he hired him. Those guys took off in San Fran and had a great run in the National Football League. A lot of people grew and learned from him.”
Holmgren, who’s retired, was a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame as coach for the Class of 2024. He worked with some of the greats from Joe Montana and Steve Young to salvaging to Brett Favre’s career.
While with the Packers from 1992-98, they drafted a quarterback every year.
Ron Wolf, who was Green Bay’s general manager from 1991-2001, traded with the Falcons to land Favre. Wolf and Holmgren went on to draft quarterbacks six times. They were developed them and then shipped them off for draft picks. The list included Mark Brunell (151 starts in the NFL), Matt Hasselbeck (206 starts) and Aaron Brooks (90 starts).
“Every year, I tried to do that (draft a quarterback),” said Holmgren, who crafted the plan with Wolf. “Again, it’s different. It’s interesting. I had a philosophy. … When we got Favre and we traded a No. 1 pick. What you are saying to everybody, your fans, everybody. If you do that, he’s going to be your starter. If it’s the first game or the fourth game. You don’t spend a No. 1 pick and then have him watch for a long time.”
Later in 2005, Ted Thompson, a former Wolf lieutenant, drafted Aaron Rodgers in the first round with the 24th overall pick, with Favre on the roster. Rodgers sat and learned how to play quarterback for three seasons before making his first start in 2008.
Since Wolf and Holmgren were hired, the Packers have won two Super Bowls, been to the playoffs 22 times and have had three losing seasons. The Packers are set to transition to Jordan Love this season, who was drafted in the first round (26th overall) of the 2020 draft and has been developed for three seasons.
“The Packers did that with Aaron Rodgers because they had Brett Favre at quarterback,” said Holmgren, who left for Seattle in 1998. “But so Aaron kind of watched for a while. But if you get picked high, you know, you’re going to play. And so I liked that challenge.”
In 1994, the Packers had Favre, Brunell, Ty Detmer and Kurt Warner in training camp. Warner was cut and would re-emerge with the Rams in 1998 and make his mark in the league.
“I always thought that I could develop a young guy, teach him what to do,” Holmgren said. “Now, is every young guy coming out of college ready to play right away? No, no.”
There has to be some ability to project the player as a starter.
“You also (have to) protect him a little bit so he doesn’t get the snot knocked out of him and you ruin (him),” Holmgren said. “Kind of get him to worry about things. Then I think he learns faster playing than watching.”
Holmgren has studied most of the young quarterbacks who’ve entered the NFL in recent years.
“Yeah, I like Desmond,” Holmgren said. “The one thing I do on the radio right now, they have me look at the quarterbacks. That’s still fun for me.”
Smith and offensive coordinator Dave Ragone are working to develop Ridder. They were both with Hasselbeck during his stint in Tennessee. Also, Smith was with Jim Zorn, who was Holmgren’s quarterback coach in Seattle from 2001-07.
So, the Falcons have the “Holmgren Papers” on how to develop quarterbacks.
“We picked Matt’s brain about how they did stuff and the way they called it,” Smith said of him and Ragone. “Everybody’s got a little bit different. … They had a lot of success, and a lot of coaches got hired off those (coaching) trees.”
Ragone also has studied the Denver version of the West Coast offense.
“But everyone kind of did it their own way,” Smith said. “You talk to like Matt Schaub or Gary Kubiak, they had their own way. The way they set the game plan up and called it in. Certainly, you’re got to do what’s best for your team. But those old West Coast guys, the way they set up practice, the rules were different.”
Since the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, the practice rules have been altered with time and contact limits in the name of player safety.
“So, they did things differently,” Smith said. “They had a lot more reps. I believe those guys had a lot of more seven-on-seven reps, so a lot of those timing throws … it is what is. I can sit here and complain about the reps or the time, but you adapt to the circumstances that you are given.”
Holmgren and some of this other assistants in Green Bay – Sherman Lewis, Jon Gruden and Steve Mariucci – used to brag about the ball never touching the ground in seven-on-seven drills in San Francisco and eventually in Green Bay, too.
Holmgren believes the Falcons have taken the first major step in developing Ridder by making a commitment.
“The only people (who) know him are the guys or their staff,” Holmgren said. “You can look at film and all that kind of stuff, but until you really get him and you get to know him and you see how he handles pressure. ... If he’s your guy, you commit to him. You’re all in. Then it’s up to you just to train him properly and bring him along.”
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
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