Another Panther who's improved significantly

[Mr. Scot]

Specifically, the biggest Panther of them all...

A fellow by the name of Jerry Richardson.

In years past, Richardson's running of the Panthers was a source of huge, vitriolic arguments on this board.  These days, not so much.  And while I'd still disagree wholeheartedly with those who used to posit that Richardson cared more about money than winning (a ridiculous premise when you consider that you make more money by winning) I do think there have been some definitive changes in how he approaches getting that job done.

With that in mind, let's take a look at areas where I see some key changes/improvements have been made in The Big cat's modus operandi over the past few years.  Mind you, some of what will be discussed here is largely speculative, but I'll be backing up my points with examples to illustrate them (judge for yourself the validity of the results).

Knowing who to trust

Darin Gantt once referred to Marty Hurney as having a "contract for life" to be the GM of the Panthers, even though at the time Hurney technically had no contract at all.  He was working year to year, performing the duties of a GM and getting paid as such even with no official deal in place.  And despite his having an overall inconsistent record, Richardson was seemingly content to trust Hurney with the reins of the Panthers roster and team building in perpetuity.

That is, until the Panthers started the 2012 season 1-5 and looked poised to suffer through their third losing season and fourth poor start in a row.  It was then, reportedly, that a question from Richardson to Hurney about what he planned to do to fix things was met with an answer of "I don't know", and Hurney was thus relieved of his duties.

Hurney certainly wasn't the first guy Ricardson made the mistake of trusting.  George Seifert and Dom Capers before him had both been given control of the roster, with disastrous results.  After Hurney though, Richardson finally invested his trust in the right guy.  That, in part because of point number two.

Becoming more hands off

Those who've worked with him would tell you Richardson has never been a Jerry Jones "fingerprints on everything" type, but there were indeed times when he's said to have interfered in team operations, generally with poor results. 

The most famous/infamous of these is the story from Bill Rosinski that, after a complaint from Steve Smith, Richardson was said to have told then offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson that he was no longer allowed to even speak to Smith (as ridiculous as that sounds). Richardson was also reportedly the prime mover behind the post-lockout spending frenzy for which Marty Hurney ultimately had to take the fall. 

With that, and other things like the Smith incident, the team wound up with an atmosphere where star players felt they were good to go regardless of whether they were producing dividends on the field commensurate with their salaries.  It was also, of course, Richardson's decision making that led to Capers, Seifert and Hurney being in charge of building the team. 

But after Hurney was let go, Richardson decided to do something that was unprecedented at the time.

He let somebody else take over the process of picking the next man who'd run the team.

Longtime Giants GM Ernie Accorsi was trusted to run the GM search, a search that ultimately netted Dave Gettleman.  The same Dave Gettleman who, a year later, sent owner favorite Steve Smith packing.  Richardson could have stopped that from happening, but instead he stood back and did nothing but wish Smith a fond farewell.  Gettleman's made other decisions since, both popular and unpopular, with no hint or indication of owner interference.

Which leads to point three...

Shifting values

Richardson always was, and still is, a man who put a very high value on loyalty.  Marty Hurney's loyalty (and willingness to occasionally fall on the sword) was said by many insiders to be one of the reasons he stayed around for as long as he did.  Likewise, it was why players like Jake Delhomme got awarded big contract extensions even though their performance on the field no longer warranted such.

But then Dave Gettleman took over.

Gettleman is a guy who value results.  That's not to say he'll totally dismiss things like loyalty and character (just the opposite) but he isn't the kind to let those factors override his decision making.  Smith is again a prime example of this, as is team all-time leading rusher DeAngelo Williams.  While Gettleman is, by all accounts, a nice guy and something of a sentimental person, he still knows his first and most important job is to build a winner.  And if that means occasionally letting go of someone the team was attached to, so be it.

It'd be wrong to say Jerry Richardson didn't value winning.  He absolutely did, and his choices in the last few years prove it.  But it's also fair to say that in the past, Richardson let some other things get in the way of that when he probably shouldn't have.  No more of that now, not with Gettleman running the show.

These days, while things are still being done in what you'd call "the right way" (high character, no scandals, etc) they're also being done that way for the right reasons, and the goal around which it all revolves is winning that Lombardi trophy for the first time...and hopefully more times afterward.

_____________________________________________________________________________

So ultimately, while Jerry Richardson certainly always wanted to win, he unfortunately wasn't always the best at knowing how to do so. 

But now he's left the task in the hands of others, and those others are producing the best and most consistent results this team has ever seen, the future looks bright.

Very, very bright...

[mc52beast]

Dude's a pretty decent dabber, nuff said.

[Mr. Scot]

13 minutes ago, mc52beast said:

Dude's a pretty decent dabber, nuff said.

That too.

(can't overestimate the value of that)

[Frizzy350]

This is an allusion to a debate between authoritarians and libertarians correct?

[csx]

There are posters here who said he needed to die for the team to be successful. That is embarrassing.

[Mr. Scot]

1 minute ago, Frizzy350 said:

This is an allusion to a debate between authoritarians and libertarians correct?

That's what I was shooting for.

I just used Richardson's running of the Panthers as a hidden allegory.

[Bj-Monster23]

Tough times don't last always! 

[Mr. Scot]

3 minutes ago, csx said:

There are posters here who said he needed to die for the team to be successful. That is embarrassing.

Ugh! I remember that.

[Mr. Scot]

5 minutes ago, thebigcat said:

I am touched Mr. Scott :)

Wasn't me that touched you.

[Red Zone]

Well written and I totally agree. I am proud to have Richardson as the owner. I honestly think he does try to do the "Right" thing regardless of the situation.

He decision to ask for help in filling the GM position was a great one, and then the ability to step back and trust G-man had to be difficult. I'd say it's worked out fairly well so far.

Go Panthers!

[iBBB]

Very good writeup sir. 

[iBBB]

I remember there was a story about Mr. Richardson being in the draft room for an early 2000 draft and he personally intervened our potential draft of a WR (maybe something else) which turned out to be a star but has/had bad character. I can't remember who it was. Has any of you heard about this or know more?