On Sunday, we reported that former Packers and Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren visited the Raiders last week, and that he could end up being the next coach of the team. Appearing Monday on KJR radio’s Mitch in the Morning show in Seattle, Holmgren confirmed both aspects of the report.
“Yeah, I did go down there,” Holmgren told Mitch Levy. “A couple of years ago, I had met with [owner] Mark [Davis] about possibly working with the Raiders, and it didn’t work out. . . . And [G.M.] Reggie McKenzie did work with me in Green Bay for many, many years. So I do have a relationship with him, those are all true. So they phoned me up, I went down there for a day and looked at some film. They had the bye after the London game. And just to float some ideas, and get another opinion of the team and what was going on. No jobs were discussed. Nothing like that, it was more just a pop in and pop out, and that’s what I did.”
No jobs were discussed last week, but the fact that they called upon Holmgren to visit the team in the aftermath of the firing of coach Dennis Allen shows that the organization holds Holmgren in a certain type of esteem. When asked by host Levy whether Holmgren definitely won’t be the coach of the Raiders, Holmgren was far from unequivocal.
“Well, you know what?” Holmgren said. “Now we’re gonna start something else again.”
He then measured his words carefully: “Probably not. Probably not.”
Which also means possibly so.
Asked generally about the possibility of coaching any team, the 66-year-old Holmgren likewise didn’t slam the door.
“Every once in a while, you get a phone call or some little itch there,” Holmgren said. “And I don’t know if that’ll ever go away.”
The Raiders may not ultimately be Holmgren’s only Bay Area option. If/when Jim Harbaugh leaves the 49ers, Holmgren could be interested in returning to his hometown as coach of the franchise where he rose to prominence as an offensive coordinator. However, the 49ers would have to also be interested in him, which may be unlikely.
Either outcome isn’t likely, but it’s clear that Holmgren remains in play -- at least a little bit -- to return to coaching.