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View Full Version : IAOFM - Chicken or the Egg?



itsalloverfatman
12-16-2010, 09:50 AM
Chicken or the Egg? Lard 12-16-10
Douglas A. Lee Dec 16, 2010 7:50 AM

Good Morning, Broncos fans! Yesterday's story about Denver's potential interest in Mike Mularkey raised concerns about the future structure of the team's front office - the idea of hiring a coach before a GM caused some discomfort. But while the personnel problems of the past 10+ years in Denver can largely be blamed upon the team's lack of a quality GM to help select players, the role of the GM in the NFL is not typically what it is in other professional sports. There is no person more important within a football organization than the head coach, and this is the case even in the presence of a commanding GM like Bill Parcells, Bill Polian or Scott Pioli, although these three men happen to also be very good at selecting head coaches. This isn't baseball, where the GM and his decision making are much more crucial to winning than the manager and his calls are.

When it comes down to it, the head coach is responsible for the schemes, the playbook, the play calling, motivating and teaching the players - everything that happens on the field and in the locker room, including winning and losing. The personnel the GM selects has to match or fit the schemes of his head coach. As Pat Kirwan writes in the oft-quoted (here, anyway) Take Your Eye Off The Ball,


In an ideal situation, then, the general manager should support the head coach...he should have enough football experience that he can be a valuable contributor to the head coach's vision...He can't be seen as outranking the head coach, especially in the eyes of the team.

This is not to say the GM is unimportant - in fact, that's how the Broncos have gotten into this mess in the first place. It's important that the Broncos hire an adequate GM who will carry an appropriate workload and is given enough of a voice in selecting players so that the head coach is not all-powerful. But whether the GM or the head coach is hired first isn't crucial - what matters is the two men are able to work together. Frankly, there have been a lot more successful coaches than GMs in NFL history, and if Pat Bowlen wanted to go the route of the authoritative personnel man, he missed the boat in a big way when he failed to hire Scott Pioli two years ago.

Ultimately, it's all about the head coach. For all the Bill Cowher fans out there, hiring him would (hopefully) mean him bringing along a GM who shares his vision of how a team should be constructed. That is the structure he succeeded under in Pittsburgh, and while the Steelers have had good GMs over the years, they have had exceptional coaches for the past 41 years (Chuck Noll, Cowher, Mike Tomlin). Teams can win championships without über-powerful GMs; they have never done so without a great coach. Just take a look at our pals out in San Diego for a prime example...

Superchop 7
12-16-2010, 01:48 PM
Just get Dennison and let him suggest the GM.