No one knows Holmgren’s future

While Seattle Seahawks fans will say goodbye — again, but this time from a distance — to Mike Holmgren this afternoon, this might not be the last they see of him.

The 60-year-old coach is making his final appearance as Seahawks coach when Seattle plays at Arizona today, and he’s almost certain to take the 2009 season off at the urging at his wife, Kathy.

But what the more distant future holds, no one seems to know — not even Holmgren himself.

What is certain, he reminded the media last week, is that 2009 will be spent vacationing and spending quality time with his family. After that, the future is open.

While no one could possibly predict what job openings will come in 2010, there should be plenty in the next few weeks. Just as former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher is about to find out, there are lots of desperate teams looking for Super Bowl coaches with an eye for talent.

Three teams have current interim coaches, two of whom are likely to be replaced. Six other teams are rumored to already be considering a coaching change. And, depending on what happens in the final week of the NFL season today and Monday, the New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins could also be in the market for a new coach and/or lead personnel guy.

Throw in the Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts, who already have future coaches in place, and more than half the teams in the league are involved in possible coaching changes.

It’s a safe bet that most of them would love to have Holmgren.

But the 2009 season appears to be out of the question.

In case anyone had forgotten about Holmgren’s immediate plans, he reminded reporters during a Christmas Eve press conference, saying: “I’m telling you what I’m going to do. I’m going to take some time off and not think about this for a while.”

That leads to the question of what might be available in 2010.

Holmgren himself has said that he is “99 percent” certain he’ll get back into the league at some point, and it’s apparent that he would love a position that allows him to have a hand in personnel. He could go for a vice president of football operations position, a la Bill Parcells in Miami, or Holmgren might want to take another crack at the coach/general manager thing.

If the San Francisco 49ers decide to keep interim coach Mike Singletary around for another season — he’s quietly won four of the past six games — that could be an attractive job opening for Holmgren, a Bay Area native, should it open up in 2010.

It’s conceivable that the Green Bay Packers, Holmgren’s former team, could be searching for a coach, a general manager or both after next season. That might be another destination.

High-profile owners like Washington’s Daniel Snyder and the Cowboys’ Jerry Jones could try to make a splash by offering Holmgren a coach/GM position, but it’s difficult to imagine the future Hall of Famer working well with meddling owners.

So maybe Holmgren will opt for a job that doesn’t involve walking the sideline. He could try his hand at personnel, like Parcells has done with success in Miami.

Of course, there’s always a third option after Holmgren’s 2009 year of hiatus.

“There’s a possibility that in the year off, life is so good that I just might want to ride my motorcycle all the time and go to the beach,” he said earlier this season. “I don’t know.”

No one does.

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