KIRKLAND, Wash. – At first glance, it appears that two Super Bowl-winning coaches couldn't be more different than Bill Parcells and Mike Holmgren.
Parcells, the Cowboys' 65-year-old coach, is the epitome of a Jersey guy. He's brash, opinionated and often confrontational.
Seattle's Holmgren is an easygoing, 58-year-old San Francisco native. He mixes in gentle smiles and hearty laughs while answering reporters' questions.
"Ultimately, even though our personalities are different, we view the game the same way," said Holmgren, whose Seahawks host the Cowboys in an NFC wild-card game Saturday night. "We're kind of football purists, you might say. We have tremendous respect for the game and very strong opinions about how things should be done."
That passion for football is the foundation of a friendship between the veteran coaches. It doesn't matter that they've used completely different methods to succeed.
Parcells, whose 183 career wins including playoffs rank second among active coaches, qualifies as one of the top defensive minds in the history of the game. You can't talk about the 3-4 defense without Parcells' name coming up in the conversation. Few teams have been more dominant defensively than his New York Giants squads that won two NFL titles.
Holmgren, fifth among active coaches with 158 wins, is a West Coast offense guru. He's a Bill Walsh disciple who helped Green Bay's Brett Favre develop into a Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback.
"I don't know why we hit it off, but we did," Parcells said of Holmgren. "And that was some time ago. I just like him. Right now, he's the enemy, but I still like him."
Parcells and Holmgren aren't the kind of buddies who shoot the bull over a few beers. They typically talk only a few times a year at football events.
Parcells had a habit of sitting with former Green Bay Packers general manager Ron Wolf at the NFL Scouting Combine each year. Holmgren joined the group after Wolf gave him his first head coaching job after the 1991 season.
Holmgren said he has gone to Parcells for advice several times, dating back to when Holmgren was an assistant in San Francisco from 1986-91. Parcells, Holmgren said, was always willing to help.
"I don't want to take any credit," said Parcells, adding that he had also learned "football stuff" from his chats with Holmgren. "Mike worked with Bill Walsh. He got his own help."
Saturday will mark the second time Holmgren and Parcells have met as head coaches in the playoffs. Holmgren's Packers beat Parcells' Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI.
"I got my first dose of going and competing in a big game against a legend," Holmgren said. "They wanted to talk about Bill a lot, but they didn't want to talk about the Packers a lot. That was OK."
Holmgren doesn't think too much has changed as far as the coaches' status since that game. He still sees Parcells as "one of the all-time great coaches in this league," which is why Holmgren expects the Cowboys to be ready to play Saturday. And Holmgren still considers himself a "high school history coach who is the luckiest guy in the world."
The reality is that Holmgren and Parcells are a couple of coaches who have reached the top of their profession and stand in each other's way of taking a step toward getting back to the pinnacle.
"They're totally different as far as what the public sees," said tight end Ryan Hannam, who is on the Cowboys' injured reserve after spending the last four seasons with the Seahawks. "But if you get past that and actually deal with them on a day-to-day basis, they're actually very similar people."
E-mail tmacmahon@dallasnews.com
