David Newton talks about Tina Becker and the GM search

[Mr. Scot]

I know what you're probably thinking but this article is actually pretty good: Tina Becker's chance to put her stamp on the Panthers

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Not many outside of Bank of America Stadium seem to know much about Carolina Panthers chief operating officer Tina Becker.

That includes high-ranking city officials who would have to work with the person running the Panthers' day-to-day operations once a new owner is hired.

Charlotte city councilman James Mitchell, the chairman of the new economic development committee charged with working with the Panthers, had to have somebody point out Becker on the sideline prior to the team’s last home game in December.

Businessman Felix Sabates, part of a local group interested in purchasing the Panthers, hadn’t heard of Becker before she was given her new title in December.

Neither had Max Muhleman, a Charlotte-based sports marketing executive who is a longtime business associate and friend of team owner Jerry Richardson since before the team was founded in 1993.

Most of what we know about the person Richardson put in charge after the NFC began its investigation into him for workplace misconduct can be found in the team media guide.

I don't really see this as a good thing.

 

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Becker, 44, has not made herself available for interviews outside of a short Q&A with the team website in which this was her most telling remark:

“Yes. I expect some changes but I am not prepared to get into the specifics quite yet. I believe every organization can make improvements. There is no room for complacency. There are a lot of talented people in this organization and I want to get their input as well as we continue to make this organization better every day."

Team officials say there is no immediate plan for Becker to do media interviews.

And why not?

The Observer had an article basically detailing how hard they'd been trying to talk to Becker and ask her some questions, only to be continually turned down for all requests.

So why would you not want the person you put in charge to talk to reporters who would ask her questions?

There's an answer for that, and it's not a good one.

 

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But Becker is making decisions. She recently approved a new two-year extension for coach Ron Rivera that secures him through the 2020 season.

Next up is hiring a general manager.

Oy...

 

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That process begins Thursday as the Panthers interview Houston Texans assistant general manager Jimmy Raye III and continues Friday with an interview of Lake Dawson, Buffalo’s assistant director of college scouting.

Ryan Cowden, a former Panthers scout and now the director of player personnel for the Tennessee Titans, also could get an interview.

Again, could.  The Panthers apparently haven't even asked permission yet.  I'd love to know why, but of course nobody is allowed to talk to Tina Becker so we can't ask.

 

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Marty Hurney, who returned to the team prior to training camp as the interim general manager after Richardson fired Dave Gettleman in late July, appears to be the front-runner for the job. He got the endorsement of Rivera after the season and said he would like to stay.

He will be interviewed by the committee, headed by Baker and including Rivera, team associate general counsel Steve Argeris and director of communications Steven Drummond.

It won’t be as formal as the other interviews in terms of a tour of the facilities and city. Hurney doesn’t need to be wined and dined.

We used to have a :puke: emoji on this board.  If we still did, this is somewhere I'd use it.

 

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Other than a four-and-a-half-year hiatus, Hurney has been with the organization since 1998. He was fired as the GM after a 1-5 start to the 2012 season, and it was more like a mutual decision between him and Richardson to leave in an attempt to save Rivera’s job.

Hurney is the natural choice to become the full-time GM. He has the knowledge of the organization that could help bridge the gap between the football side and business side once the new owner is hired to replace the 81-year-old Richardson, who announced after the investigation he planned to put the team up for sale.

That process is expected to move into full gear Monday after the Super Bowl.

Here too.

 

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That Becker and the organization are moving forward with hiring a general manager is interesting. Hurney’s deal runs through June. There is no immediate urgency to have a GM in place before the new ownership other than to facilitate decisions on free agency that begins March 14, and ultimately the draft.

"Interesting" is one way to put it.

 

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This also is Becker’s last big chance to put her stamp on the team before new ownership, which may or may not opt to keep her and other key executive personnel.

I don't really like the sound of that either.

 

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Ideally, the Panthers would like to have a potential successor to Richardson in time to be approved by the league at the annual meetings March 25-28 in Orlando, Florida.

It appears a full-time general manager will be in place well before then. A team official insisted this is a serious search, not just an attempt to fulfill the "Rooney Rule" that requires teams to interview minority candidates for senior football operations and head-coaching jobs.

Raye and Dawson, who are minority candidates, are highly qualified.

Riiiiight.

Pretty clear they've heard the chatter.  Not surprising since it's pretty much what everybody who's publicly commented on the story is saying.
 

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Raye has experience with Rivera and new offensive coordinator Norv Turner. He was the director of player personnel at San Diego from 2008 to 2012. Rivera was the Chargers’ defensive coordinator from 2008 to 2010 under Turner, the head coach from 2007 to 2012.

If there’s a candidate that might keep Hurney from getting the job, he might be it.

Now that's something I can get behind.

 

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That Rivera already publicly has stated he’d like Hurney to stay on makes him the front-runner. Hurney also likely would have gotten Richardson’s endorsement were he still in charge.

Nobody knows for sure how much say Richardson will have in this decision.

Yes we do.

The committee is made up of Richardson's hand picked replacement, a team spokesman who's been trying to spin the Richardson story since it came out, a team lawyer who would have to be aware of - and may have helped create - the non disclosure agreements that protected Richardson from the consequences of his actions, and Ron Rivera, who has been supportive of both Richardson and Hurney.

 

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Becker is the wild card. Does she stay with the status quo in Hurney? Or does she move in a new direction and make changes?

And will this decision have any impact on whether new ownership keeps her in this position of power before anybody gets to know more about her?

Newton with a little bit of snark here, but he has a very valid point.

 

Let's be real.  This is not a "serious search".  It's a coronation for Marty Hurney, and everybody knows it.  The team has obviously heard people saying this, but I doubt that'll change what's going to happen.  If anything, they'll just hire Hurney and then Drummond will come out saying "See?  We did our best to find the right man for the job!"

Ugh

[raleigh-panther]

I think the bottom line is the new ownership will do as it sees fit regardless of these interim moves

an ownership group that has billions can easily buy out these contracts and send people they don’t want on their way

maybe that’s what ole JR wants, a going away buy out for his loyal cronies 

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, raleigh-panther said:

I think the bottom line is the new ownership will do as it sees fit regardless of these interim moves

an ownership group that has billions can easily buy out these contracts and send people they don’t want on their way

maybe that’s what ole JR wants, a going away buy out for his loyal cronies 

That's actually why I've changed my mind about current minority owners having a part in this.

I'd rather they didn't.

I don't want any possibility whatsoever of anyone working to honor Jerry Richardson's wishes.

[Mr. Scot]

I'm considering just addressing Hurney as "Smithers" from now on.

...

Sadly, it's a pretty valid moniker.

[panthers55]

Honestly it doesn't matter what the committee does or who they hire. New owners who are paying 2 1/2 billion for the team aren't going to care if it cost a few million more to dump Hurney and pay his remaining contract off and move on with who they want.  If they like Hurney he stays. If not he goes and they bring someone else in. No need to angst or get worried. Hurney will do the draft and Free agency. After that is up to the new owners.

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, panthers55 said:

Honestly it doesn't matter what the committee does or who they hire. New owners who are paying 2 1/2 billion for the team aren't going to care if it cost a few million more to dump Hurney and pay his remaining contract off and move on with who they want.  If they like Hurney he stays. If not he goes and they bring someone else in. No need to angst or get worried. Hurney will do the draft and Free agency. After that is up to the new owners.

Again, why I hope new ownership doesn't involve any of Richardson's cronies.

But the sad truth is Richardson controls the sale, and he'll likely try and get someone who'll run the team per his wishes.

[X-Clown on 1]

Baker already has stated when she first came on that during these bumpy times, it's important to keep the continuity of the team together.  She then went on to say that's when they were working on a 2-year extension for Rivera and that they hoped to make Hurney the full-time GM as well.  Given the fact she's already said that -- this is clearly nothing more than a puppet show....not even a good one either.

[Swaggasaurus]

You seem angry. Tina Becker doesn’t have to do interviews if she doesn’t want to. You, me, the media, everyone feels entitled to answers. The reality is that she doesn’t owe anyone poo.

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, Swaggasaurus said:

You seem angry. Tina Becker doesn’t have to do interviews if she doesn’t want to. You, me, the media, everyone feels entitled to answers. The reality is that she doesn’t owe anyone poo.

That's not why she's not doing interviews.

[MHS831]

Other than a four-and-a-half-year hiatus, Hurney has been with the organization since 1998. He was fired as the GM after a 1-5 start to the 2012 season, and it was more like a mutual decision between him and Richardson to leave in an attempt to save Rivera’s job.

Pretty sure we went to the playoffs 3 times during that 4.5 years and won 3 NFC South titles. 

[panthers55]

Just now, Mr. Scot said:

Again, why I hope new ownership doesn't involve any of Richardson's cronies.

But the sad truth is Richardson controls the sale, and he'll likely try and get someone who'll run the team per his wishes.

As long as the team wins and is successful, new owners should be good with who we have unless they think they know better. Remember even Richardson fired Hurney so he isn't exactly teflon or considered tops in the league. It will be up to Hurney to prove he can do the job. And frankly if he does a good job this time he should stay. If not he should be shown the door. It is pretty simple.

[Snake]

7 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Again, why I hope new ownership doesn't involve any of Richardson's cronies.

But the sad truth is Richardson controls the sale, and he'll likely try and get someone who'll run the team per his wishes.

With the NFL investigation heating up on him I feel he will want to sale as quickly as possible. Nothing like a investigation with the potential of a congressional hearing to drive the price down on the Panthers. 

[Mr. Scot]

5 minutes ago, panthers55 said:

Remember even Richardson fired Hurney so he isn't exactly teflon or considered tops in the league.

Well, noooottt really.

5 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

Other than a four-and-a-half-year hiatus, Hurney has been with the organization since 1998. He was fired as the GM after a 1-5 start to the 2012 season, and it was more like a mutual decision between him and Richardson to leave in an attempt to save Rivera’s job.

See, this dovetails with something I remember one of the other reporters writing (probably Voth) but that I can no longer find online.  Likely reason?  Richardson doesn't want this story out there.

The original story was that Jerry Richardson asked Marty Hurney what he was going to do to fix things.  Hurney replied "I don't know" and Richardson fired him. But apparently what actually happened was that Richardson was planning to fire Ron Rivera and Hurney agreed to fall on the sword to keep Rivera in place.

A lot of us have long suspected that Richardson never really wanted to fire Hurney and was basically looking for an opportunity to bring him back after Gettleman fixed the team.  This story lends a lot of credence to that theory.

[iamhubby1]

11 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Again, why I hope new ownership doesn't involve any of Richardson's cronies.

But the sad truth is Richardson controls the sale, and he'll likely try and get someone who'll run the team per his wishes.

 

    Wow dude. You really have taken this to the nth degree haven't you. You have used words like "Puke", and "Disgust" when talking about this. That is a whole lot of emotion, and angst, all over something that you have no control over. 

 

    Someone has to bridge the gap between the Football side, and the Business side of this team. So what if it is Hurndog for the time being. There is just as good a chance, if not close to a sure thing, that the new Owners bring in their own, as there is Hurndog stays. 

 

    You have worked yourself into a pretty good lather over some things that have not, or even may not, happen.

 

    Me? I am going to wait until this all plays. I will then react accordingly, and go about my merry way. Because at the end of the day. This is just Football.