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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Packerlifer" data-source="post: 607635" data-attributes="member: 1242">Part 3.     Mike Holmgren arrived in Green Bay after coaching only 6 years in the NFL; first as quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. He had been on the team for two Super Bowl winning seasons and was close to a third. Working under the top coach of the decade Bill Walsh he had mastered the intricacies of the famous West Coast offense and even began to develop refinements of it to take it to new heights. He had experience working with two future Hall of Fame qb's Joe Montana and Steve Young. It was his work for the Niners offense in 1991 when both Montana and Young were injured and he kept the unit elite with third stringer Steve Bono playing it that really boosted Holmgren to the top of head coaching prospects for the coming year.      The Packers had presumably made some impression on Holmgren from two games against San Francisco during his time there. In 1989 the Packers had gone to the West Coast and upset the Super Bowl reigning and bound 49ers 21-17. In that game Holmgren had seen the Packer defense sack Joe Montana 6 times and force 4 turnovers as well as getting a first hand look at qb Don Majkowski in his career year. In 1990 the Niners had come to Green Bay and won a close 24-20 decision in which the Packers had held them to only 34 rushing yds. on 20 attempts.      Holmgren retained two assistants from the previous regime; defensive line coach Greg Blache and secondary coach **** Jauron. He brought in as his coordinator fellow 49ers assistant Ray Rhodes. Rhodes had coached the San Francisco secondary for ten years, helping them to 4 Super Bowl wins and handling such all-pros as Ronnie Lott, Eric Wright and Dwight Hicks.      Holmgren and Rhodes decided to stay with the 3-4 defense during their first two seasons in Green Bay. They were, after all, inheriting a top ten unit from the previous season and the strength of the unit was in their linebacker corps of Bennett, Noble, Holland and Paup.     With his first first round pick as GM of the Packers Ron Wolf selected cb Terrell Buckley. A highly regarded prospect at the time Buckley, though, was overhyped in some quarters as "a next Deion Sanders. " The Packers expected to pair Buckley with the previous year's first round choice Vinnie Clark in giving them a long term shutdown, playmaking pair on their corners.      The Packers brought in a new nose tackle John Jurkovic and linebacker George Koonce and promoted safety LeRoy Butler to a starting position next to Chuck Cecil.      Holmgren succeeded in doing what no Packers coach since Lombardi did in '92; producing a winning record. The Packers went 9-7 and just missed the playoffs by losing their final game of the season at Minnesota.      Most of the story of 1992 was on the offensive side where the acquisition and emergence of qb Brett Favre and an historic passing combination with wr Sterling Sharpe were the headlines. The defense dipped to 23rd in league ranking. but there were some positives. They were 15th in scoring defense; allowing 18.5 ppg. They got a good pass rushing season from lbs Tony Bennett (13.5 sacks) and Bryce Paup (6.5). Safety Chuck Cecil picked off 4 passes and rookie Buckley 3.      The defense, though, would make the headline during the 1993 offseason. Reggie White, the greatest free agent in NFL history, was on the market. The all-pro defensive end of the Eagles was coveted by every team in the league, most made pitches to him. Dallas, San Francisco, Washington, the Jets and Cleveland were thought to be the leaders. That little Green Bay had any chance seemed impossible. The sports world was stunned and Packers' fans stunned and delighted on April 6,1993 by the announcement that Reggie would be coming to Green Bay.      Ron Wolf and Mike Holmgren had pursued White with determination and skills. And a four year contract at $17 million. Reggie immediately gave Green Bay a credibility and cache the Packers hadn't seen in decades. He would be a transformative player for the franchise, not only making plays on defense but exerting leadership and inspiration for the entire team.      The only question was how would Reggie do in the Packers' scheme. He had never been in a 3-4 defense before but soon proved it didn't matter. In his first season in Green & Gold he registered 13 sacks, 79 tackles, 3 forced fumbles and 3 recovered fumbles. With Reggie on board the Packers' defense rose to second in the league rankings; Green Bay's highest in 21 years.      White wasn't the only addition to make a difference to the defense in 1993. The club had a particularly productive draft for players who would make an immediate or early starting impact. With two first round picks Wolf nabbed lb Wayne Simmons and s George Teague and in the 6th round cb Doug Evans.  The Packers also picked up a big run stuffing, pocket-collapsing nose tackle Gilbert Brown (aka The Gravedigger) on waivers from Minnesota.      The Packers produced another 9-7 season but this time it was enough to put them in the playoffs. The Packers clinched their playoff berth in the next to last game of the season at Lambeau when they shut out a contending Raiders team 28-0. This was the game in which Reggie White and LeRoy Butler collaborted on a fumble recovery return for a td that began the now familiar tradition of touchdown celebration by the Packers at home known as "the Lambeau Leap."      The Packers had a shot at winning the NFC Central Division title in the final game of the season the following week at Detroit. And the Lions would be without their great runningback Barry Sanders, due to a knee injury. But the Packers couldn't capitalize on the opportunity. Back-up Eric Lynch hit them for 115 yds on 30 carries and scored two td's. The offense had a meltdown game with 5 turnovers, including 4 interceptions off qb Brett Favre. Detroit won 30-20 and the Packers would have to return to the Pontiac Silverdome the next weekend for the Wild Card playoff. And Barry Sanders would be back for that game.      For much of the playoff the Lions pushed the Pack around and were threatening to break the game open in the third quarter as they moved into the Packers' defensive red zone with a 17-14 lead. Safety George Teague saved the day, though, by intercepting qb Erik Kramer's pass in the end zone and returning it 101 yds. for a td. The play gave the Packers a temporary lead but kept it close enough for Green Bay to pull it out in the last seconds on Brett Favre's 40 yd. pass to Sterling Sharpe against a blown Lions' defensive coverage.     The Lions, though, put up 410 yds. on the Packers' defense, including 175 rushing, led by Barry Sanders 169 on 27 carries. The 28-24 win sent the Pack on to the divisional round to face the Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. As would happen for 3 consecutive seasons the Packers would be eliminated by the Cowboys in postseason play. They put on a spirited effort in the 27-17 loss, as both teams were rather ragged. The game showed that the Packers had a ways to go to reach Dallas' level. But reach it in time they would and major changes on the defense would be a big part of that progress. (End of Part 3)</blockquote>

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