New Prez a former Redskin? Good Omen for Thursday!

[pbmax]

Oh and to second the thought, if the exec committee, board or Murphy start to interfere with the GM total authority package, I am selling my single fractional share of stock.

[Merlin]

Hopefully there isn't some secret scandal to follow this selection. Bob Harlen has done a great job for the Packers and he will be sorely missed. I think this guy has the qualifications and is taking over a team on the rise so he has the success there already to build on. Much of the job is PR but he also makes personnel decisions (e.g. GM). Harlen did a great job at that and kept the Packers winning and was there for the fans during the hard times.

[FritzDontBlitz]

That is almost a perfect template for the job of Packer President.

Huh?

You need some BUSINESS experience, I believe. Running the Packers organization is a FOR PROFIT business. You have to know how to appease customers. You need to understand the small market obstacles facing the Packers in the big market business of the NFL.

Being a lawyer and working for the NFLPA doesn't seem to me perfect qualifications for running the Packers. It isn't bad...but I wouldn't label it perfect. I thought there were others in the running who actually possessed better qualifications in terms of prior experience. Guys who worked in high positions running other small market NFL teams with success.

He was athletic director at Northwestern for the past 4 years. Contrary to popular belief, Northwestern is a Big 10 school.

Harlan was brought to Chicago to meet and interview they guy, so apparently he's OK with the choice....

[Tyrone Bigguns]

If he doesnt' fire TT he is a loser. I've seen a total decline in the accounting department. They need to go. The whole bi weekly pay period is a sham.

It is day two and I can't see any visible improvement in the Packers. The running game is still weak. Our guards can't block.

So what if he brought in a new coffee maker and put up pictures of his family. That doesn't help the team.

[FritzDontBlitz]

The thing I like about hiring Murphy is he started at safety for a hard hitting Redskins' defense when they were making all their Super Bowl appearances, so he knows what it takes to win. He's probably not some amoral numbers cruncher who only watches the bottom line. I think he is the perfect compliment to TT.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Not everyone's sold on Murphy
By Pete Dougherty

The Green Bay Packers’ board of directors meeting on Monday will be one of the most important, intriguing and spirited in years.

Early Monday afternoon, the Packers’ executive committee will introduce Northwestern University athletics director Mark H. Murphy to the board as its candidate to replace outgoing Chairman Bob Harlan as head of the 89-year-old organization. The committee was negotiating a contract with Murphy over the weekend.

However, the 45-person board must approve his nomination by a simple majority, and interviews with sources from the board, the team, as well as outsiders with considerable knowledge of the board’s workings, suggest as many as one-third of the board’s members appear ready to vote against Murphy, with that number potentially growing or dropping depending on what happens behind those closed doors at 1265 Lombardi Ave.

“Fireworks could be an understatement,” one board member said of the likely atmosphere at the meeting.

Based on interviews with the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the “no” votes wouldn’t be based on Murphy’s resume or reputation, which appear to be solid.

Instead, there are factions that want to hire a local candidate — team vice president Jason Wied or board member Tom Olejniczak — rather than bring in an outsider to run the team for the first time.

There’s also a group of perhaps 10 or 12 board members who perceive that executive committee members Carl Kuehne and perhaps John Bergstrom marginalized Harlan’s role in the search for a time, then took the lead so a candidate of their preference could increase their influence in the organization.

Opinions from numerous sources diverge on the degree to which Kuehne and Bergstrom pushed the selection process, but the perception of board members is important.

Several board sources said the 10-person search committee was composed of many quality people who worked diligently, but some of the sources, based on observing the search and attending two board meetings on the matter, believe Kuehne and Bergstrom were the driving forces and brought Harlan back at the end of the search only because they need his support to get the board to approve Murphy.

That’s spurred fears among other board members that the organization could slide back from the successful model Harlan established and that makes the Packers an attractive NFL franchise for football executives and coaches: The general manager is given ample resources and complete control over football matters, and he and his coach sink or swim based on their decisions without influence from other team executives.

Harlan will chair the meeting, and the executive committee will introduce Murphy. Murphy will make a presentation to the board, then will leave the meeting while the board discusses his candidacy and votes by secret ballot.

Perhaps Murphy’s presentation will mollify concerns, sway some “no” voters to approve him, and get him voted in by a large majority. On the other hand, based on dissension on the board, there probably will be a lively debate, and there’s no telling what could happen if it becomes drawn out and heated.

The executive committee appears confident Murphy will be approved, but even so, if one-third or more of the board votes against the nomination, it would be something of a no-confidence vote.

One factor that lends to a potentially close vote is the secret ballot, which is new for the board. In past votes on hiring presidents, the board voted openly by a raise of hands. That minimized the chances of dissent, because most members were reluctant to have the executive committee see them vote against its recommendations for fear of losing their prized spot on the board. But the board changed the team’s bylaws for this vote, and the secret ballot should embolden dissenters.

Murphy, 52, though not the perfect candidate, has a good resume and reputation. He has an master's degree in business administration from American University and a law degree from Georgetown.

Sources from across the Packers’ organization — football, administration and the board — who researched him over the past few days had encouraging reports about his calm, deliberate temperament, intelligence and history for letting his coaches run their programs as an athletics director at Colgate and Northwestern.

Nevertheless, there’s concern among the football staff about a major change in leadership in what’s been a successful organization since the early 1990s. They wonder whether Murphy, who played in the NFL from 1977 to 1984, will try to influence football decisions, and administrative staffers and some board members fear he’ll bring in colleagues from his past to fill upper-management jobs with the Packers. Those are issues Murphy will have to address Monday if the board approves him.

Among some board members, there’s concern about Murphy’s lack of experience in NFL administration — he’s never worked for a team in that capacity — after the search committee told the board this fall that NFL experience would be priority No. 1.

The executive committee will argue Murphy has compensating qualities to ease his transition. He has some contacts in the league because peers from his NFL career are in upper management of NFL teams. He’s participated in NFL collective bargaining as a member of the players’ negotiating team during the 1982 strike, and later worked as an assistant executive director for the NFL Players Association. He’s an attorney by training, though presumably his knowledge of the NFL’s current and complicated collective-bargaining agreement is minimal.

Two sources said the executive committee has asked Harlan to remain with the team for another year to help Murphy’s transition to the NFL. Harlan would work part-time as an adviser and would attend league meetings to introduce Murphy to team owners and presidents from around the league.

Murphy will have to get up to speed quickly on major matters, most notably the CBA, because the players and owners can opt out of the agreement in November. If one side does, the Packers will want a respected voice to look out for their interests and the league’s interests in negotiations with the players.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell must sign off on the Packers’ choice, as well. No doubt Murphy’s relationship with former commissioner Paul Tagliabue, Goodell’s predecessor, helped. Murphy and Tagliabue became acquainted during the 1982 strike, when Murphy was on the players’ negotiating team and Tagliabue was an attorney representing the league. Murphy has said Tagliabue helped him immensely in his career.

It’s unclear whether Tagliabue recommended Murphy to the Chicago-based search firm that gave the Packers their initial list of candidates, and the Packers didn’t contact Tagliabue about Murphy. But it’s safe to assume the former commissioner gave Murphy a good recommendation to Goodell.

Murphy was one of three finalists for the job. Sources said Wied was another, though two said that was as a courtesy to Harlan, who’s known to have recommended him for the job. Coach Mike McCarthy strongly supported Wied’s bid, though Wied’s youth — he’ll turn 36 later this month — precluded him from being a serious candidate for some search committee members. The third finalist hasn’t been identified publicly.

Sources said former Packers vice president Mike Reinfeldt never was a candidate. Reinfeldt, who’s executive vice president and general manager of the Tennessee Titans, never showed interest in the position, and the search committee never pursued him.

The sources didn’t know whether Titans owner Bud Adams blocked Reinfeldt from pursuing the job, though there’s as good a chance Reinfeldt was unwilling to leave the Titans after only one year as GM. He and Adams have a close friendship that goes back to Reinfeldt’s days as a player for the franchise.

If Murphy is approved, he’ll take over an organization that’s in excellent shape financially and on the field. The Packers have a preservation fund of about $125 million and made a profit of about $22 million last year. Also, in Ted Thompson’s third season as general manager and McCarthy’s second season as coach, the Packers have a 10-2 record, which is second-best in the NFC.

Harlan signed a five-year contract when he was hired as Packers president in 1989, and the Packers probably will sign Murphy to a four- or five-year deal. The contract probably will be worth about $1 million a year. However, Murphy and members of the executive committee are subject to board approval every year.

[Harlan Huckleby]

he must be wearing a hair piece, because I swear he was bald during his playing days.