SEATTLE -- The Seattle Seahawks are not reaching out to former coach Mike Holmgren -- or anyone else -- in their search for a new general manager. At least not yet.
As Holmgren pondered becoming the Cleveland Browns' chief of football operations, a Seahawks spokesman said Thursday that Seattle is still in an "initial auditing" stage of assessing the slumping franchise and has yet to talk to any GM candidates.
Last week, Holmgren told a Seattle radio station he "absolutely" wanted to talk to Seahawks owner Paul Allen and chief executive Tod Leiweke about possibly returning to the franchise. Seattle created an opening two weeks ago when it forced president and GM Tim Ruskell to resign.
The Seahawks are 9-20 since their last playoff game in January 2008.
Leiweke did not immediately respond to an e-mail message.
He is leading Seattle's search, with the help of New York firm Spencer Stuart. The search firm will help identify candidates beyond the Seahawks' list, which Leiweke has said will likely include Ruston Webster, the team's interim GM and a former longtime scout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"I will tell you this, that there's going to be a process," Leiweke said the day Ruskell resigned.
The 61-year-old Holmgren spent 10 years in Seattle and became the Seahawks' longest-tenured and winningest coach. He was also Seattle's GM from 1999-2002.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press