ESPN.com - NFL/TRAININGCAMP00 - Pack takes U-turn to Holmgren way

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 Tuesday, July 25
Pack takes U-turn to Holmgren way
 
 By John Clayton
ESPN.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Driving across the bridge over Fox River, the big, green roadway sign says, "Holmgren Way Next Right." If you don't take that exit, Lombardi Avenue is next.

Face it, this is Green Bay, Wis. There are two ways to do things -- the Holmgren Way or the Lombardi Way. Both are the same. The coach is the boss. The players must follow directions or become ex-players. If NFL players obey those two rules, Green Bay, Wis., once again becomes Titletown USA.

Mike Sherman
Mike Sherman wasted no time showing who's the boss at Packers camp.

Ray Rhodes tried to be a players' coach here last year. Doesn't work in Green Bay. This is a coach's town, so the Packers brought in a Holmgren assistant, Mike Sherman, to bring back the Holmgren Way.

"The reality of it was players were given a lot of freedom and didn't use it to the best of the team," quarterback Brett Favre said. "I think we were a lot of individuals last year and it showed."

Favre remembers a humiliating loss to Tampa Bay. "The offense, the defense and special teams showed no togetherness," Favre said. "It was embarrassing."

Sherman's way is Holmgren's way, which is just like Lombardi's. Be the boss. Give the order. Yell at those who don't follow the orders. Clearly, Sherman is showing who is the boss at Packers practices.

"My way is like Mike, but I'm not Mike Holmgren and he's not me," Sherman said. "We both have strengths and weakness. I'm going to do it my way. But a lot of my ways are similar to Mike's. If they do something wrong, I will tell them. Do it twice, I'll tell them a little louder. Mike Holmgren may be loud, but it would be the first time."

Packers players are responding, but they did the same last year under Rhodes. This year, though, practices have been longer, some going longer than two-and-a-half hours. Of course, that's something the players can control. Sherman keeps making the team get it right before moving on to the next play.

Offensive line coach Larry Beightol, a carryover from Rhodes' staff, takes it one step further. An offensive lineman who makes a mistake must drop to the ground for a quick series of pushups.

"We're getting pretty strong because they're getting a lot of pushups," Sherman said deviously.

Burned by last year's 8-8 record, general manager Ron Wolf can't wait until the exhibition and regular seasons in order to see how this team performs. He remembers camp going well last year. Rhodes ran a good training camp that featured more running than Sherman's.

"For whatever reason, something happened once the season started," Wolf said.

Because no one can pin down what went wrong, Sherman is leaving nothing to chance. He's bombarding his players with attention to the little things.

"Starting meetings on time was a big thing, so he went through the building and changed all the clocks," defensive tackle Vonnie Holliday said of the new digital clocks. "There is no more, 'This clock is a minute behind.' He's in and out of every drill at practice. He's out there yelling at guys, getting in their faces and really getting on the coaches if it isn't done right. It's going to be his way."

A year ago, players celebrated Holmgren's departure. Winning had its fault because players felt Holmgren never gave them the full opportunity to enjoy it. He nagged at them too much.

He (Sherman) is in and out of every drill at practice. He's out there yelling at guys, getting in their faces and really getting on the coaches if it isn't done right. It's going to be his way.
Vonnie Holliday, Packers defensive end

"Mike Holmgren had a reason for doing everything," Favre said. "He'd tell us not to talk about injuries. Players would say, 'Hey, it's my injury.' He was not going to let anything slip through the cracks. Yeah, it was redundant at times to sit there and listen to it, but guys were scared to speak out on things that were no big deal."

Sherman will follow the philosophy that if you are hurt, the coach will determine who will miss practice, not the players.

"You have to be as precise as you possibly can be without limiting the player," Sherman said. "They have to know there is a better way to do things."

Sherman is showing the Packers that way. But he does have his moments to catch them off guard. During the next to last week of June offseason workouts, Sherman huddled with guard Ross Verba without anyone knowing about it.

He told Verba to stand up on a bus ride to practice and say, "We're not practicing today, let's go bowling." Coaches were stunned at this supposed mutinous act. Players couldn't believe their ears. Pretty soon the bus pulled up to a bowling alley and the games began.

"We had four practices in a row and it was a Friday and I wanted to trade a Friday for three good days next week," Sherman said. "It was very exciting. We had competitive bowling. There were prizes."

Sherman got his three good days next week. He took some internal heat for riding buses the short distance to the practice field each day in minicamp.

"People were saying why are we paying all this money for buses," Sherman said. "I'm trying to get everybody to practice at the same time. You get them on the bus, they are travelling together laughing with each other and the coaches. We're getting used to being a team. I think the chemistry factor was a little bit off last year."

Said Favre, "Ray came in; the team was in place, figuring he was inheriting a good team. He figured that they are paid a lot of money and as a former player, he felt the players would do the right thing. It took an 8-8 season for us to realize that didn't work. We can't do it ourselves."

How much detail does Sherman adhere to? He's the only Packers coach to hop a bike ride from one of the kids from the outdoor training camp practice field to the office, a long ride across the parking lot of Lambeau.

Imagine Lombardi or Holmgren doing that.

John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
 



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