You’ve probably read the title of this article, sighed loudly at your desk and hate-clicked the link, already mashing your caps lock button in preparation for the profanity laced comment you’re going to leave. Before you skim and scroll, there are some things you need to consider, and they all point to one thing: the Carolina Panthers need to hire an interim general manager after the surprise firing of Dave Gettleman Monday morning.
Panthers likely going to go with an interim GM rather than rush this decision a month before the season. Marty Hurney makes some sense.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) July 17, 2017
Again, don’t expect a permanent solution right now. Interim. https://t.co/awoDoFfcIj
— Bill Voth (@PanthersBill) July 18, 2017
Hands off that caps lock button for a second, because there’s a key word there.
Interim. Stopgap. Temporary.
Dave Gettleman has been fired. Whether you like the decision or not, it has already been done, there’s no turning back; that means the Panthers are left with no team president, no assistant general manager, and now no general manager only eight days before the start of camp. Because of the unfortunate timing of the decision, the Panthers need someone who can step in and immediately feel comfortable, and Hurney has worked with owner Jerry Richardson before; he knows how “The Big Cat” wants his team to come together and understands the culture of the team Richardson has tried to build. Same goes for head coach Ron Rivera. Hurney knows what kind of players Rivera needs to be successful, and can help to provide them on the back end of the roster as the top 40-45 slots are secured. Most of the roster is set. At this point, Hurney’s biggest value to the team is his comfort with the surroundings.
Not saying GM’s jobs aren’t important this time of year, but most of the work has been done. DG’s most noteworthy post-offseason moves: pic.twitter.com/cNouxwf9ch
— Bill Voth (@PanthersBill) July 17, 2017
As Bill Voth from Panthers.com points out, most of the heavy lifting for a GM has already been done at this point. What the Panthers need in 2017 is a steady hand to guide them through the season, a season in which people inside of Carolina certainly have Super Bowl aspirations. Even though there are not significant roster moves that need to be made, there are still plenty of events that take place to get the team down to its final 53-man roster. Hurney’s familiarity with Rivera will be useful in making training camp cuts, assigning players to the practice squad, and working to secure camp causalities from other teams to fill any open holes. The Panthers need an interim general manager who can step in and immediately feel comfortable and temporarily fill the role so that the team doesn’t miss a beat, and Marty Hurney can do that.
A Happy Medium
In July of 2016, Dave Gettleman was, along with the rest of Carolina Panthers nation, on top of the world. He had transformed a team with huge salary cap issues and an aging roster into a team that was one Von Miller superhero performance from a Super Bowl title. Gettleman inked a longterm deal with a franchise quarterback whom his peers called the #1 player in the NFL and had paired him on the opposite side with a middle linebacker many considered the best defensive player in the league. He had made tough decisions, many of which were derided by the fanbase as too harsh, cutting ties with fan favorites such as Steve Smith, Deangelo Williams, and Josh Norman. Smith and Williams went on to have successful seasons with the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively, and Norman was the only reigning All-Pro player in history to hit free agency before the next season. Gettleman ran his team with a ruthless efficiency, which may have ultimately led to his demise in Carolina.
Gettleman’s cold demeanor and willingness to part ways with beloved veterans was a complete turnaround from the man he replaced in 2013. Many will want to point to Hurney’s extensions to Jake Delhomme, Deangelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart and Charles Johnson as mistakes, and they were. But he still presided over the Super Bowl team in 2003. He still drafted Cam Newton. And Luke Kuechly. Jonathan Stewart. Ryan Kalil. Thomas Davis. Josh Norman. Traded for Greg Olsen. The list of Hurney successes is long, certainly as long as Gettleman’s. Unfortunately, the list of mistakes may be even longer. The aforementioned contract extensions. Trading up for Armanti Edwards. Four years, $12 million for Olindo Mare. A seven million dollar signing bonus for Thomas Davis, who was coming off two straight lost seasons with torn ACLs. Hurney’s penchant for valuing his own roster and (perhaps) paying for past performance ultimately crippled the team’s salary cap and left them with an aging roster which Gettleman had to work his way past.
Photo: Mike McCarn/AP
The Elephant In The Room
Rumors are swirling that Gettleman was fired because Jerry Richardson was unhappy with the way he was handling Thomas Davis and Greg Olsen’s request for contract extensions; especially Davis, who perhaps more than anyone in the organization represented the “Keep Pounding” motto as he battled back from tearing his ACL three times and making the Pro Bowl in his last two seasons. Richardson has always rewarded players he felt embodied the spirit of the Panthers, and on the eve of his eighty-first birthday, it is clear that he is just as involved in the large personnel decisions of his organizations as he has ever been.
One can assume that Thomas Davis is getting his extension to retire as a Panther, and Greg Olsen will get a much-deserved raise, because Jerry Richardson was always going to be involved in these decisions. An interim GM may bring the deals to the table, but it is Richardson who makes the ultimate decision. Director of team administration Rob Rogers was already leading most negotiations with the two stars. Hurney wanted to draft Cam Newton with the first overall pick, but it was only after Richardson famously instructed him not to get tattoos that Newton became the face of the franchise. Richardson trusts his general managers, but as the one signing the checks, he gets to make the ultimate decision. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that as interim general manager, Marty Hurney would get to put Thomas Davis on the books until 2024. Same goes for Olsen making more money than Cam Newton. Olsen will make what he is worth (he’s not making that now), and Davis will likely turn this final year of employment into two seasons at a reasonable price. Whomever the Panthers hire will make sure of it, but it will be easier to weather this next year with someone they already know and trust. Hurney has already made these mistakes, and will not repeat them, especially not in an interim role.
The Panthers need a general manager somewhere in the middle of Gettleman and Hurney, and they’re not going to find him in the next eight days. Better to bring in someone who will not steer the ship aground for the next twelve months while we find the untapped football mind like Ryan Cowden or Trent Kirchner to guide the team for the upcoming decade. The Panthers cannot afford to have a long search for the general manager of the future. That can wait until after 2017. They need a general manager who can be effective immediately. For one season.
In the interim.
The Panthers need Marty Hurney.
