DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Gil Haskell may be Holmgren's new "advisor"

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/01/30/gil-haskell-may-join-browns-front-office/


Gil Haskell may join Browns front office
Posted by Evan Silva on January 30, 2010 9:54 PM ET
Whether it was his decision or the rest of the league's is unclear, but former Seahawks offensive coordinator Gil Haskell was conspicuously out of football in 2009. Haskell has an impressive and lengthy track record in coaching, so we're assuming he simply took the year off at age 66.

Either way, it appears Haskell will resurface under new Browns club president Mike Holmgren. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Haskell is expected to be appointed as an adviser to Holmgren in the Browns' front office.

He and Holmgren are close pals. They worked together for 15 of Holmgren's 17 years in NFL coaching, including all of Holmgren's eight years as Seahawks head coach. Haskell and Holmgren made Super Bowl appearances together with Seattle in 2005, and Green Bay in 1996 and 1997.

Per the Plain Dealer, Haskell will have "major input" regarding the Browns' offseason decision making on the offensive side of the football. It will be interesting to see if Haskell pushes Holmgren to pursue Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck via offseason trade. Hasselbeck, well versed in the system Holmgren and Haskell emphasize, figures to be available at the right price.

Another top class hire.

Too bad he isn't going to be the OC...but having him as a "adviser" doesn't hurt whatsoever.

I know Daboll gets a pretty rough view from most on here and some of that is certainly deserved, but my mind just wonders maybe what type of influence guys like Holmgren and Haskell could have on Daboll's development as a play-caller... I am getting more faith in this thing being able to work because I think the coaching side is definitely something that can be learned and grown into. I know Daboll wasn't ready for the gig when he took over but he showed strides at the end and will only can look better with more offensive talent which I feel our new front office is primed to get.

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It will be interesting to see if Haskell pushes Holmgren to pursue Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck via offseason trade. Hasselbeck, well versed in the system Holmgren and Haskell emphasize, figures to be available at the right price.

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As usual, the writer is only looking at what's directly in front of him... and from only one (narrowly-focused) angle. Such is only a small part of the picture.

To me, this is of much less importance than what he can bring to the table as we move down the road. If Hasslebeck does come here, it will most likely be like a Jurevicius-type hire... a couple years of production, then done. Not really much to speak of, unless he pulls a 'Drew Brees' type of renaissance... and that's unlikely, considering his age and skill set.

My curiosity is:

What can he bring to us 3 years from now?
What will his title/role/function within the org. be?
Will he have influence during draft time?
How 'deep into MH's ear" will he be?

These are the questions I want answered..

Who IS this man... whom we might hire?

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my mind just wonders maybe what type of influence guys like Holmgren and Haskell could have on Daboll's development as a play-caller...

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I would have to think: a lot.

And if Daboll isn't stupid, you can bet he'll take advantage of the resources he has. I know I would, if I was in his position.

MH has an open-door policy. Wants to give and take with his staff.
Haskell has years of knowlege locked up in his skull.
We now have a proven 'Brain Trust' in place... in all the positions above him.



Dude would have to be the stupidest (AND most arrogant) bastige on the planet to not ask a whole boatload of questions... every day.


I know I would

Seahawks sticking with Matt Hasselbeck
By Brian Murphy, Tuesday, January 12, 2010 6:27:51 PM EST

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is coming off a wretched season, has just one year left on his contract and is 34 years old. Judging from head coach Pete Carroll's comments today about the quarterback position, it sounds like Hasselbeck is his man. "I know we have a quarterback that has played really good football in his career," Carroll said. "Matty, he's feeling pretty good. He's bouncing back from a sore shoulder during the season. He's ready to go. That is one of the key elements of putting together a team that has a chance to win right away. You've got to have a quarterback. I know that we have a first-class guy in Matt and I can't wait to get working with him."

Fantasy Analysis:
If Seattle was to ditch Hasselbeck, the Seahawks really don't have a suitable replacement behind him. Seneca Wallace is a wildcat quarterback and Mike Teel is just a sixth-round rookie. That being said, Hasselbeck was tough to watch this year. He looked done. It looked like he should retire. So, maybe Carroll is speaking positively about him now, but you have to imagine that the team will give the quarterback position a lot of thought during April's draft. As long as Hasselbeck is the Seahawks' starter, I don't like the prospects of anyone in that passing offense.
http://www.fftoolbox.com/football/nfl_news.cfm?news_id=1149

Contract Information for Matt Hasselbeck

2/22/2005: Signed a six-year, $47 million contract. The deal included a $16 million signing bonus. 2009: $5.25 million, 2010: $5.75 million, 2011: Free Agent. Cap charges: $9.5 million (2009), $10 million (2010).

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_contract.aspx?sport=NFl&id=519

good.. cuz I don't want another Dilfer.. He would be decent.. but he's not gonna win us anything..

I'm all for any good mind being added to the FO.. can't hurt.

No doubt.


For me it is starting to look like we should be about done.....at what point do you have enough and at what point do you have too many....or at least without being redundant?

I like the hires and the course we are taking. We just can't lose sight of the fact all of these hires don't do much if we don't get better players.

Once that starts to happen, then we can start crowing.

Haskell might be the bridge between Holmgren and the coaching staff. He might be the way Holmgren gets a little more of what he wants in the way of game planning and a little less of what he doesn't want.

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or at least without being redundant?

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I agree with that 100% .. Rudundancy would lead to infighting and if you take the man at his word, Holmgren isn't going to stand for that.. I'm taking him at his word..

I agree, and one think we need to take in to account is MH isn't just building things for the here and now, he is laying the foundation for what hopefully is a sound organization for years to come.

In a way he, and maybe this new guy don't count. At some point Holmgren is going to be gone....2-3-10 years??

At that point Hecket moves up and someone takes his position.

FA starts in few weeks...we'll see what happens.

For once I'm truly excited by the FO people,, top down.. Like you said, this seems to be being built with a long term view as opposed to winning now.

I wanna win now of course, but I'd gladly trade a decent year for a decade of good to great teams.. Did that make sense? LOL

It makes perfect sense.

Since the number of holes we have to fill before we could even been considered a great team are many and varied, we're going to have no real choice but to give up that year and be satisfied with a respectable season of respectable progress. If in the end all these moves make us a lasting contender, I'm all for it.

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For me it is starting to look like we should be about done.....at what point do you have enough and at what point do you have too many....or at least without being redundant?

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I worry about this too Peen. After seeing this hire I was a little worried about having too many people with influence. Too many people speaking in your ear, "too many cooks in the kitchen"

The more people in an organization, the more difficult it is to organize and keep on the same page. Sometimes there's just too many personalities. Now Haskell is 66, so may be he's just a retired guy looking for something to work on, but without the demands of being an NFL Coach or Front Office Man. It sounds like he's basically a consultant.

I do agree that it would be very smart for Brian Daboll to start picking his brain. "Take him out to lunch" as my mother tells me to do with people I could learn from/could help me in the future, and he better "Shut your mouth and listen" as my father always says when I go to a meeting or interview.

I think that Daboll really improved as the season continued, and he never had the weapons that a successful offense needed. DA and Quinn are both weak QBs, our WRs/TEs couldn't get seperation and they drop a lot of badly (and decent) thrown balls. Our O-Line was awful with St. Clair in there, I said getting rid of Schaffer was an awful decision (sure KS wasn't good, but much better than the scrub we put in his place) and our running game with Fraley, Porkchop, and TE on the line wasn't in place until late in the season. We will need to find a way to fix that right side with a real RT soon, Womack can run block but having him really limits what we can do...........

I think all the FO people learned from that mistake. I mean who decided to sign St. Clair and release KS, there was no reason to. Cap wise we were fine, Schaffer played on this team for a long time and was familiar with it. We knew we couldn't expect Ryan Tucker to play RT regularly

I just hope that none of these frontoffice/coach guys get in each other's way. There's a lot of powerful people in this organization who might command a lot of influence, I guess it's Holmgren's duty to make sure they work together and stay on the same page.

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The more people in an organization, the more difficult it is to organize and keep on the same page.

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I thinking that is true if MH just went out an hired seasoned, successful people from varied backgrounds and experienced based largely on their previous successes. But the hires he's made so far have already been on the same page. There's no "bringing along" or teaching the page to them. They're coming in from the same page and will continue to focus and contribute from the viewpoint of being on that page.

In other words, shortly put, they are all on the same page already.

I see this as a great move. Holmgren is an offensive guy, bringing in someone who knows what he expects offensively is a good move. This guy could be the person who steers Daboll into a more effective OC. He can explain the nuances of Holmgrens philosophies and make sure the proper talent is aquired to make it work.

Even if Daboll did improve, not something I would suggest, he still is raw as an OC. This guy could also be a benefit for Heckert also. He could again show the GM what to look for to run Holmgrens type of offense.

The main thing I like about this hire, is that he is a "football" guy. He has a ton of experience and know how. MH is building a solid organization filled with smart "football" types. How this is anything but positive is beyond me. IMO the too many personalities arguement is weak, considering that this guy has worked with Holmgren for years. If Daboll and Mangini have problems with him, they are the ones that lose in the end.

I said right after we hired Holmgren that Gil Haskell would be a part of this team. At the time I thought Mangini would be fired and Haskell would be the WR coach.

It's always good to have as many smart people as possible.

I thinking that is true if MH just went out an hired seasoned, successful people from varied backgrounds and experienced based largely on their previous successes. But the hires he's made so far have already been on the same page.

these worry-warts in here really make me chuckle..don't U guys know that MH had these people in mind already and knew just how he wanted to use them?
People forget what he said about getting people in quickly and having enough responsibilities..he wanted people who could do some of the things he would have to do..
U guys need to focus on the players we get..I'm not too worried about the FO people..especially since the coach can't do any takeovers..not with all that power above him..