Seahawks ‘looking into everything’

RENTON – The coaching change is still a few weeks away.

Until then, that might be one of the only things about the 2008 Seattle Seahawks that stays the same.

Head coach Mike Holmgren, who still intends to leave the team after this season, said Monday that the Seahawks could make some changes down the stretch because of their record (2-8) and their standing in the postseason hunt (if this were a 100-meter race, they’d be about 80 meters back).

The worst start in Holmgren’s career as a head coach has led him to take a look at the final six weeks and re-evaluate how to finish the season.

“(In) meetings, practice, it’s going to be business as usual that way,” Holmgren said Monday afternoon. “But maybe how we approach each game, maybe how we look at some players, be flexible. We’re looking into everything right now.”

The most important change involves how the Seahawks will approach the final six weeks as a non-contender. It’s an unfamiliar position, and so Holmgren addressed his players on Monday morning and told them to finish strong. He admitted to reporters Monday afternoon that his team has to rally around playing the role of “spoilers” at this point.

“There are a lot of reasons you play football – from the time you are young to the time when you’re a professional,” Holmgren said when asked about his players’ motivation. “One of them is that you’re getting paid to do a job.

“… We’re all hurting the same way. We’re not very happy with it, but here we are. So how are we going to handle the last six games?”

The Seahawks are five games back in the NFC West race, meaning it would take a miracle for them to move on to the postseason. Not many players in the Seattle locker room are used to being out of the postseason race – in November or at any point in a given season.

“It’s difficult to accept,” fullback Leonard Weaver said. “You think about the last six or seven or eight years, we have been playoff bound and contenders for the Super Bowl every year, going deep into the playoffs. It is definitely difficult, but at the same time it is reality.”

Weaver added that it’s particularly hard to send Holmgren out on such a bad note.

“For me, it is hurtful,” Weaver said Monday. “Because here is a guy I have learned to love over four years. … You are talking about one of the greatest coaches in the game, and I have had the privilege to play under him. So it is going to be a little bothersome.”

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has played for Holmgren during his entire career as a starter, so he also feels bad about putting a forgettable end to the 60-year-old coach’s tenure here.

“He’s obviously taken this franchise and steered the ship in the right direction,” Hasselbeck said Monday. “It’s disappointing that we haven’t played our best football for him (this season).”

For his part, Holmgren has kept his chin up. He said Monday that he’s been “one of the lucky ones” during a 16-year career as head coach and added that his main focus right now is on finishing strong.

From a personnel standpoint, the Seahawks don’t have a whole lot of changes to be made.

Seattle’s first two draft picks – defensive end Lawrence Jackson and tight end John Carlson – are already in the starting lineup. Third-round pick Red Bryant, a defensive tackle who saw extended playing time in recent weeks, is sidelined by a high ankle sprain. Second-year cornerback Josh Wilson has already been inserted into the starting lineup, while young players like offensive lineman Ray Willis and rookie fullback Owen Schmitt have also seen plenty of action.

“Because of the injury situation, there’s not a lot of wiggle room and things to try,” Holmgren said. “It’s not like all of a sudden we have this diamond in the rough that we thought needed a little more seasoning, but now let’s stick him in there.

“That diamond has played, probably, at some point.”

One “youngster” who won’t see an expanded role down the stretch is 46-year-old defensive backs coach Jim Mora. Holmgren dismissed the notion that Mora, the head-coach-in-waiting, will start transitioning into next year’s job over the final six weeks.

Said Weaver: “Right now, he is a defensive coach and Mike Holmgren is the head coach. We don’t look at him any different. When the season is over, Jim will take over and then we will go from there.”