3-15-01 BY GEOFF HOBSON
There are only six Bengals who have their picture on the walls twice in the Paul Brown Stadium weight room.
Anthony Munoz. Tim Krumrie. Reggie Williams. James Brooks. Jim LeClair.
And Rodney Holman.
The Bengals went back to the future Thursday when they added Holman, the former Pro Bowl tight end and 14-year NFL veteran, as the assistant strength and conditioning coach.
"Those are my guys," said Bengals strength and conditioning coach Kim Wood of his photo gallery. "They were all players here with high work ethic and extreme dedication to the game who made themselves players. There were times I would point to Rodney and tell the players what kind of man and what kind of player he was. Now to have him helping me is a huge bonus."
Holman, 40, the sixth-leading receiver in Bengals' history, increases what was already the club's largest coaching staff to 15.
He'll work with Wood, the dean of NFL strength and conditioning coaches who joined the Bengals in 1975. Holman will also work on the field with the offense in a variety of roles.
"My first priority is to help Kim Wood improve this team's strength and conditioning," Holman said. "I think with my experience I can help from the standpoint of helping get a mind set for professionalism. Since I've retired I've kept abreast of what's happened this decade and I hope I can help mentally as well as physically."
Holman's hire is in part a response
to player wishes for an expanded strength and conditioning program. But it had been on new head coach Dick LeBeau's list before he started surveying players for their views on offseason workout programs.
"This is something I wanted to get done because most teams in the league have two guys in that position," LeBeau said. "Rodney was a part of our championship days. He was a big cog in that machine and a guy we always admired for how hard he worked and his character. He's a great addition to our program."
Holman, a third-round draft pick out of Tulane in 1982, went to three straight Pro Bowls from 1988-90 and played on three Cincinnati playoff teams on his way to 318 catches for 34 touchdowns during 11 seasons in Cincinnati.
He finished his career in three seasons with Detroit from 1993-95 and was Mike Ditka's tight ends coach in New Orleans in 1998 and 1999.
"The key to what we're doing is trying to develop a mind set of winning," Wood said. "We're trying to help develop young players who don't know the experience of winning. Some of them make a lot of money, but they really don't know what it means to be a professional. That's what we're shooting for. Rodney is a guy who has been there and done it and they'll be able to see that every day."
Holman nearly got lost a few times at cavernous PBS, a stark contrast from his 11 seasons at Spinney Field.
"I'd like to bring some of those wins over here," Holman said. "The Lord works in mysterious ways. I'm back where I started. It's a good feeling."
