Prep school: Mike Holmgren offers SOPs to cope with the preparation minefield that is the Super Bowl

Sporting News, The, Feb 2, 2004 by Dan Pompei

The preparation schedule for the biggest game of the year is unlike the schedule routine of any other, and the path leading to the Super Bowl is filled with land mines. One coach who knows how to avoid those mines is Seattle's Mike Holmgren. The head coach of two Packers teams that played in the Super Bowl and an assistant on two 49ers Super Bowl teams, Holmgren shared some of his thoughts on game preparation with senior writer Dan Pompei.

DP: Once you have won your conference championship game, do you continue to do the things you have done in practice or do you change your approach, given the two weeks and the length of the season?

MH: What you try to do is take something that is extraordinary and make it as much like a regular game as possible. Before we left for the Super Bowl city, it was pretty much business as usual in the week you were at home. That first week of practice was very much like we had to play the Super Bowl the following Sunday. Once you get down to the Super Bowl city, there are distractions and your schedule changes a little bit. Our practices weren't quite as long the second week. We were a little more specific in situational defense and offense the second week. But the bulk of your preparation was done while you were at home.

DP: Is there a danger of leaving it all on the practice field?

MH: You have to talk about that. It was my experience that most of the guys were ready to play the game on Thursday of that second week. They are so conditioned during the season to a particular timetable, and coaches and athletes are creatures of habits. So you have to coach to that and make sure you do not peak too early and that you're ready to play the best football you can on Sunday. In Super Bowls over the years, there have been some great ones and some when the teams did not play like they did in the championship game, for example. I think that's one of the reasons why--the time clock for the player and the coach gets a little goofed up.

DP: So what do you do to offset that?

MH: You have to pace it a little differently. You don't relax that second week, but you change it up so it wasn't the same old, same old.

DP: Can you be more specific?

MH: No, no more specific than that. I hope to get back there someday.

DP: Can the extra week lead to overanalyzation and too many changes in the game plan?

MH: Certainly it can. You run that risk in a bye week as well during the regular season. I can remember situations as an assistant coach in San Francisco when Bill Walsh would be tearing up plays and drawing plays all the way up to the Saturday before the Super Bowl. He's a great creator. If you have a veteran team that can handle those changes late in the week, that's fine. When we were in Green Bay, I didn't think we'd handle those types of changes well, so we'd try to get things in the can early and just polish things up that second week.

DP: How do you prepare your team for the media during Super Bowl week?

MH: You educate them on what they should expect. We had a couple players who had been through that: Jim McMahon and Don Beebe. I asked them to speak to the team before going to the first Super Bowl (with the Packers). If the players aren't surprised by things, then it becomes less of a distraction. I told them what I always told them--be on time, be polite, answer the question honestly and keep the answers short.

DP: How does the week in the hotel affect preparation and concentration?

MH: I did not move the team the night before the game into another hotel, as some coaches do. The thing you have to be wary of is when the families come down on Thursday. Then things change for you. Everyone's happy to see each other, but you still have a game to play and work to do. The families have to understand that while there are parties and functions and things like that, the players are still very much involved in preparation for a game. So we had meetings with the wives so everyone knew what was happening, and no one got upset.

DP: Do you try motivational ploys?

MH: Sure. I had a local bank bring in $100,000 in singles and put it on a table. It was covered by a blanket. In our last meeting I pulled off the blanket and said, "If we win this ballgame, this is what you guys get." They were like little kids. They wanted to see it and touch it. I've always believed the speeches don't last very long though. I had more fun with that than anything. Your preparation is everything.

Scouts' views

Observations and options from two NFL pro scouts, one from each conference:

Carolina has four playmakers. Because of his speed and quickness, DeShaun Foster has difference-making ability that Stephen Davis doesn't have. Obviously, Steve Smith is a playmaker, and he'll get a chance receiving and returning. On defense, it's Kris Jenkins and Dan Morgan. Morgan is kind of unsung. He won't make the glamour plays, but he can keep New England's running backs in check.... The Patriots don't have a dominant offense, but they don't make a lot of mistakes. And they keep you off-balance a lot. They use a lot of underneath passes, then they'll hit you deep, and then they'll run it. They use their tight ends well, and all of their receivers can run after the catch.... Ricky Manning's performance in the playoffs doesn't shock me. In the preseason, he got his hands on a lot of balls and had some picks. He's quick and explosive. He's playing with confidence and certainly has natural ball skills. If he's up against a veteran who runs good routes, the veteran can outexperience him a little bit.... What makes New England's defense so challenging is that you don't know what you're going to get from down to down. They move guys around so much, they disguise coverages and they pressure you. They have good blitzers, and they come from so many different places. And they can stop the run, which is Carolina's biggest strength.... I think Jenkins vs. Russ Hochstein is a matchup that will be a huge advantage for Carolina. Jenkins is maybe the most dominating, functionally strong defensive tackle in the league. He can have an advantage on anybody, but now you've got a backup guard playing in place of Damien Woody. Hochstein is a tough player, but I think in the end Jenkins is going to win that battle.... The Patriots are going to have a hard time running the ball. Carolina's strength is its front seven, particularly the D-line. Tom Brady is really going to have to step up and try to exploit Carolina's secondary.... Carolina's biggest weakness will be the inexperience of Jake Delhomme vs. the experience of Bill Belichick. Peyton Manning has a lot of experience, and Belichick worked his magic against him. Belichick has had two weeks to scheme the Panthers, and that's going to be a factor. Delhomme is probably going to see some coverages that he hasn't seen before.... Ty Law really needs to have a big game for the Patriots to have success. I would imagine he'll be locked up on Steve Smith a lot. Law is right up there among the best cornerbacks in the league. He's very smart; he's physical, and he has great hands and ball skills.... Carolina's offensive line has played outstanding all year. There are no stars, except maybe Jordan Gross, but they play well as a unit. They've faced a lot of eight and nine men in the box lately, and they keep pounding away.