Know Your Wade Replacements: Mike Holmgren

Every time the Cowboys lose, we’ll profile potential replacements for Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips, should he be fired by the end of the season. Today, it’s Mike Holmgren!

Name: Michael George Holmgren

Career Record: 161-111

Credentials: Super Bowl winner. Three-time NFC champion. In seventeen years as a head coach in the NFL, Holmgren has had a grand total of three losing seasons. He’s taken his team to the playoffs a dozen times, with a playoff record of 13-11. In Green Bay, Holmgren took a cocky young QB with a penchant for gunslinging and molded him into an MVP. Now, who in Dallas could benefit from such guidance? In addition to Brett Favre, Holmgren has helped shape Joe Montana and Steve Young, making him tutor to three different Hall of Fame QB’s. Holmgren also took Seattle, long one of the most nondescript franchises in the NFL, and turned it into a model franchise.

Holmgren also has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the league’s biggest hardasses. He doesn’t suffer fools lightly, and that’s probably something this team needs in the wake of ol’ Wade’s “boys will be daggum boys” style of leadership. Holmgren yells. A lot. It would nice to know there’s someone on hand to yell at Roy Williams when he goes off and acts like Roy Williams.

Also, Holmgren’s got a great ‘stache. Very thick and full. I bet you could find half a turkey wrap in there.

Weaknesses: Holmgren ran the whole show over in Seattle, and it’s unlikely he’d be interested in sharing GM duties with a certain Arkansas wildcatter. YEEEHAWWWWW!!!! In his final days in Seattle, Holmgren also had his share of issues with clock management. Consider that his protégés include Andy Reid and Brad Childress, and you get an idea of Holmgren’s legacy for burning timeouts and wasting challenges.

Odds Of Being Named The Next Cowboys Coach: 30/1. Like the other Super Bowl winning coaches we’ve profiled here (Gruden, Shanahan, Cowher), Holmgren could be tempted by Jerry Jones money and resources, but ultimately driven away by the owner’s penchant for meddling. But you never know which coaches will tolerate that sort of thing for $10 million a year, and which won’t.

Do You Want Him?: Only you know for sure. Let us know in the comments.

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