BEREA — Mike Holmgren is excited about the Cleveland Browns — even if he is starting his first season as team president with his right leg in a cast.

“I’m as excited as I have ever been,” Holmgren said Wednesday.

He entered the media room with his right leg propped up on a cart with wheels that enabled him to move around.

“Don’t ask,” said Holmgren, who had surgery on his right foot to correct a condition that had been “bugging” him for a few years. As he recovers, he will violate one of the rules he had during training camp over 17 seasons as a pro coach: Nobody sits.

Holmgren won’t be content to sit and watch another 5-11 season as the Browns endured in 2009, either. He’s already made significant roster changes since joining the organization in December — though embattled coach Eric Mangini remains.

Holmgren expressed confidence that Mangini, in his second year in Cleveland, will show progress to impatient fans. He also vowed to try and stay out of the way, though he’s not completely sure of not getting the urge to prowl the sidelines himself.

“Will it be difficult for me?” Holmgren said. “We’ll see. I suspect I’ll be a little antsy.

“Just flip the situation. When I was coach, I didn’t like it (being second-guessed by management).

“If I thought (Mangini) couldn’t do it, I wouldn’t have come here in this role. We have some new talent and Eric is going to put it together.”