Jim Mora, today, was on the receiving end of one of the most shocking, low, classless screw jobs I have ever seen in professional sports - and that's sayin' something. How did this happen to the guy who, just two years ago, Liewicke and Ruskell and the Seahawks P.R. machine sold to us as "a true Northwesterner. One of US!"
I'll lay this out for you and I have zero proof but nothing is ever going to convince me that this isn't EXACTLY what happened:
Paul Allen came into the ownership of the Seattle Seahawks and brought his organizational philosophy with him; that Microsoftie team-think, consensus-building thing that MS does SO well. And, I don't blame him for that. It WORKED, didn't it? But what MOST former Microsoft former employees have said is that MS is eaten up with middle-to-upper management cliques. They have Dueling Groupthink run rampant there, all the time. So, Allen puts First & Goal in place as his umbrella organization for the stadium and team. So far, so good.
BUT, given that structure, it breeds this kind of group-think. John Clayton, Peter King, and several other national and local writers reported that, within the Seahawks organization, there was a "clique" (Clayton's term) of staffers who had Liewicke's ear who didn't like Mike Holmgrem; found him hard to work with, hard to get compromises out of, and too set on keeping them out of football decisions. Evidence of this is in Mike's statements as he took over the Browns - "Holmgren said the No. 1 thing that made the Browns "very, very appealing" were "no layers" between him and Lerner" (from cleveland.com) - and his frustration with the factions within the 'Hawks was an ongoing undercurrent that he danced around in interviews for the past two years.
So, he decides to retire. The 'Hawks announce it and, a while later, announce that Mora will succeed him. The cliques are happy: the Big Personality will be gone. But then, he actually leaves...but he doesn't. He's still living here, he's got a RADIO SHOW, every week, in which he can say ANYTHING he wants. And DOES. The cliques are FURIOUS. The friggin' guy won't just disappear! They KNOW that the fan base would dearly LOVE to keep Holmgren here in ANY capacity. But that's the LAST thing they want. Then, they fire Ruskell and now the fans, the sportswriters, the sports radio guys - EVERYBODY! - says, "Okay! Perfect! Now, we bring Mike back, he's GM and we have the best of both worlds!" Now the cliques are PANICKED. Now, they're not just tolerating a beloved ex-coach, NOW they're actively DISRESPECTING the best coach in their history and the one that made the team credible. They start a job search for the GM...and Holmgren says on the radio that, of course, he and Kathy would love to stay in Seattle and that he'd be delighted to talk with the Seahawks. The pressure rises. Now they're outright PEEING on Holmgren, after he clearly says on his radio show that, two weeks after Ruskell leaves, NO ONE HAS CALLED HIM FROM THE SEAHAWKS! So, they make him an "offer"; a position that would, effectively, put him in an office with NO influence over the actual running of the team. Of course - as they KNEW he would - Mike declined. Now, the cliques are in the clear: "Well, we OFFERED him a job and he turned it down! You can't blame US!"
Mora said publicly that he wanted Holmgren back as GM or President. He loves Mike and worked beautifully with him. Now, the cliques have a new target. Mora went 5-11. Mora is loyal to Greg Knapp, whom they regard as a major PITA. They're hiring a new GM and it would just be...more tidy if he doesn't even have to consider whether to keep Mora or not. AND, as a bonus, with Mora gone, ALL the Holmgren taint is gone! They can hire a GM and President who'll be "more practical", "more open to compromise", "better team players"....the MS blueprint.
Here's MY prediction: The Seahawks are going straight back to the NFC West cellar, back to being the running joke of the NFL, for however long it takes to Paul Allen to realize that, to become a winning football team, FOOTBALL people - and NOT "team-playing managers" - are what you need to have in place. It's actually a fairly typical and predictable growth stage in new organizations. There's even a name for it: "The Cult of Management". The Seahawks will go 3-12 next year and about the same for at least three more years. Paul Allen is a bright man. Eventually, he'll realize that his "managers" aren't cutting it. Too bad we have to squander $3000 a year for our season tickets - and then wind up selling most of them on craigslist because I'm so disgusted with the team - just to keep them...while this organization learns how to find its rump with a GPS and a pack of bloodhounds.
