After coaching in the NFL for 16 years, with a cumulative 157-99 record, three NFC Championships, 14 winning seasons and one Super Bowl ring, Mike Holmgren will retire and cap his coaching career with one of his worst seasons ever.

The injury-riddled Seahawks looked sluggish and impotent in their 44-6 loss against the New York Giants. The 38-point loss brings their record to 1-3, which is their worst start since 2002.

Today, the team stands in the same position as it did in ’02 when it finished the season 7-9, missing the playoffs. History seems to be repeating itself as the Hawks now sit in third place, 1.5 games behind the Arizona Cardinals and half a game behind the 49ers. While the season is not nearly over, the Seahawks will have a tough time coming back from this crippling start.

It’s sad that a great coach like Mike Holmgren will end his career on such a sour note.

Holmgren started his football career as a tight end at Lincoln High School in San Francisco but quickly switched to quarterback where he became a standout player. In 1965, he was named the prep athlete of the year. In college, he played on the 1967 USC championship team but injured himself his senior year and was relegated to a back-up role for the rest of his college career. Despite this, he was drafted to the NFL and invited to two camps, but was never signed to a roster.

He started his coaching career as the coach of Lincoln High School, his alma mater. After a few years of coaching at different high schools, he went to BYU as the quarterbacks coach. There, he mentored Robbie Bosco to a national championship and third place in the Heisman Award voting. During his time at BYU, he also coached future Hall of Famer Steve Young.

In 1986, he got his first NFL job as the coach of the San Francisco 49ers, which acquired Young the next year. Under Holmgren, Young became a two-time NFL MVP and Hall of Fame inductee.

Holmgren is best known for his time coaching the Green Bay Packers. His time there was one of the best coaching stints in history; he went 75–37 in regular seasons and posted a 9-5 postseason record with one Super Bowl ring.

Now, he’s going to retire with the Seattle Seahawks, after leading the Hawks to seven winning seasons, six playoff appearances, one NFC championship and one Super Bowl that should have been. He is among a select few coaches that got to the Super Bowl with two different teams and would have been the only coach in history to win the Super Bowl with two different teams had things gone his way in 2006.

He was and will forever be a great coach.

And whether you ride off in a Super Bowl-winning sunset or finish in the lower half of the NFC West, we’re going to miss you, Mike.

Reach columnist Zach Ruby at sports@dailyuw.com.