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| Mike Holmgren is quick to correct any mistakes the Seahawks make in training camp. |
"I don't usually like to sit with my players," the new coach and general manager of the Seattle Seahawks says. "But in this case, I took advantage of the opportunity."
Holmgren didn't waste time trying to turn Watters, a chronic whiner, into a team leader. And so far, the running back has hardly uttered a word about his coach's desire to give more playing time to second-year man Ahman Green.
Yes, one man can change attitudes on an underachieving team. Especially when it's Holmgren, who's earned respect by winning consistently wherever he's gone. He has won three Super Bowl rings, two as an assistant in San Francisco and one as head coach of the Green Bay Packers.
The Seahawks haven't won anything recently. The last time they made the playoffs was 1988, the longest drought in the NFL. Under Dennis Erickson, whom Holmgren replaced, they went 8-8, 7-9, 8-8 and 8-8 despite having many big-name players.
Holmgren buys the underachieving argument only to a point.
"Quite often," he says, "players perceived by the public as stars aren't necessary big-time players."
Still, no one argues that there's talent here: the likes of Watters and Joey Galloway on offense and Cortez Kennedy, Michael Sinclair and Chad Brown on defense.
"I look at underachieving this way," says defensive tackle Sam Adams, one of the prime examples. "We set a record last year for touchdowns off turnovers. But we were 27th in the league on defense. That says a lot."
Adams, a first-round draft pick in 1994 who hasn't lived up to his promise, dropped 30 pounds to 313 this spring after Holmgren threatened to cut him.
Holmgren, a former school teacher, is hardly of the Vince Lombardi-Bill Parcells-Bill Cowher mode. He's viewed as more cerebral than threatening, a former quarterback who learned under Bill Walsh in San Francisco.
But that's deceptive, too.
Holmgren spent most of last year grumpy because of the perception in Green Bay that he was about to leave. He even shouted at a fan once as he was leaving the field at halftime.
"Listen to what I tell you and do it. If you do, three things can happen: One, it will work and you'll get credit. Two, it won't work and I'll get the blame. Three, you'll do it wrong and you'll be gone."
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"My wife and I were watching the replay and I said, 'Wow!' " Holmgren recalls. "She said 'You're not like that' and I said, 'I was this time.' It was uncalled for."
In his first meeting with his new team, Holmgren gave the players a simple formula:
"Listen to what I tell you and do it. If you do, three things can happen: One, it will work and you'll get credit. Two, it won't work and I'll get the blame. Three, you'll do it wrong and you'll be gone."
Part of Holmgren's style are rules that instill group thinking -- no bandanas and no sleeveless shirts at meals, for example.
"I think sometimes he has rules just for the sake of having rules," says Watters, who was a rookie on injured reserve in 1991 when Holmgren was offensive coordinator with the 49ers.
The other players buy into it because of Holmgren's reputation.
"Eight years ago, to go out to Green Bay was like going to Alcatraz. It was a death sentence. Nobody wanted to go there," says Sinclair, who led the league with 16½ sacks last year.
"But the proof is in the pudding. You go there, bring that program around and you've done something. Our guys see what he did, and we know he can do it here."
Holmgren is tough when necessary.
On the first day of training camp, he blew his whistle after a botched play, strode into the huddle, and tore into his offense.
The next day, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran a photo on the front of its sports section of Holmgren, his lips rolled up in a sneer, chewing out his players. On the front page of the paper was a shot of him picking up a baby during a post-practice autograph session, and smiling broadly.
Which one is the real Holmgren?
"The one on the front page, of course," he said the next day, chortling.
Holmgren aside, it's easy to project the Seahawks as a playoff team.
Three of their losses last season were by a total of nine points, including the one-point defeat to the Jets when Vinny Testaverde was incorrectly ruled over the goal line on a fourth-down play with seconds left.
But questions remain, the biggest one at quarterback.
The incumbent is Jon Kitna, who took over from 41-year-old Warren Moon last season and started the final five games to mixed reviews.
Kitna, a local hero who was undrafted out of Central Washington and made his reputation in NFL Europe, still throws wobblers on out patterns, but seems to have the confidence and cockiness of most top QBs.
Behind him is Glenn Foley, obtained from the Jets, where he got hurt every time he seemed ready to shine.
"Jon is still learning the offense, which is why I don't worry about the wobblers," Holmgren says. "But yes, I'll acknowledge that quarterback is the biggest question mark."
Holmgren also can use a receiving alternative to Galloway, who was a holdout during the early days of camp. Last year, when teams double-teamed him, the offense bogged down. To rectify the problem, Holmgren signed free agents Sean Dawkins and Michael Jackson.
But Holmgren doesn't worry about that. He has plans to spring Galloway, one of the NFL's fastest receivers, on the crossing routes that he used with Jerry Rice as offensive coordinator in San Francisco.
So, not only are the Seahawks excited, so are their fans, who will get a new stadium in two years to replaced the drab Kingdome, which they've deserted after flocking there a decade ago to watch playoff teams led by Steve Largent, Dave Krieg and Curt Warner.
"Why not be excited?" Kitna says. "Why not think about opening day? Why not think Super Bowl? I do."
Yes, one man can change a lot.