Panthers President Morrison Savors New Gig

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CHARLOTTE -- After two and a half decades in college sports administration and with master's and doctorate degrees on his résumé one could suggest that Danny Morrison had seen and learned everything there was to know about the inner workings of big-time sport.

Yet when he agreed to join the Panthers last August as the team's president after a stint as TCU's athletic director, Morrison wasn't simply going to take the helm of an NFL team; he was once more going to learn something new.

"I was really curious as to what an NFL team would be like on a day-to-day basis," Morrison explained to an audience of Charlotte-area business leaders at the Charlotte Business Journal's 2010 Panthers Breakfast, held Thursday morning in a ballroom at the Hilton Center City Hotel. "I had worked with (the (Panthers) at training camp when I was at Wofford (as athletic director), and then we had a number of pro players at TCU with whom we stayed in contact."

What he found were some similarities between the professional and college working environments.

"I can tell you, if you close your eyes and listen to what's going on in practice, on the team plane or in another meeting, you would think that you were in a college situation -- and that's the best compliment that I can give," Morrison said. "The camaraderie, how much they love to play football, the passion for the game (is the same)."

The differences in the college and professional ranks lie on the business side, both with the salary cap ("it's more complicated than dealing with the NCAA rule book every day," Morrison joked) and in the relationship between organizations.

"Competitive cooperation," Morrison said. "The first thing is how complex the NFL is ... You have 32 teams up here, and they're all competing like crazy, and then we ask the same 32 teams to cooperate on the (business) end."

"It's healthy tension, and it's all held together by trust. When the trust unravels, then you've got problems."

Because the trust has been solid on a league level, Morrison has been able to devote his energies toward various local goals -- both internal within the organization and external in the Charlotte market and others around North and South Carolina.

As a native North Carolinian and graduate of Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., few appreciate the market more than Morrison, who paused to reflect on the relationship between the team and its home region.

"One of my favorite places to be in Charlotte is on the practice field with the Panthers. The reason for that is it really marries the two entitites: the Panthers and the city of Charlotte. You stand there and you watch the coaches and players and preparation and teaching that goes into each game, and then you look up and you've got the skyline of Charlotte -- which I think is the prettiest skyline anywhere in America.

"It's symbolic that you have the skyline overlooking the practice field and Bank of America Stadium. It says so much about the synergy between the Panthers and not just Charlotte, but the Carolinas, as well."

http://www.panthers.com/news/article...7-40a155518194