Brian Gutekunst/ Mark Murphy Presser Highlights

I guess Schneider and Carroll have kind of the same set up in Seattle...sort of. But GB has a third guy involved?? It kind of sounds like they're shooting from the hip but can't get the gun out of the holster.

What a different way to set things up and operate. I hope it works! Was this the contingency plan Murphy's been bragging about??? Shocked(
 
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So Murphy has been pretty much all on the business side and hands off the football side for 10 years and now all of a sudden he feels the need to muck it up. If Gutekunst is your guy at GM then give him the same role/authority that TT had since day 1 of his tenure.
 
So Murphy has been pretty much all on the business side and hands off the football side for 10 years and now all of a sudden he feels the need to muck it up. If Gutekunst is your guy at GM then give him the same role/authority that TT had since day 1 of his tenure.

I wonder if his seat got a little hot ?
 
I listened to part of the Murphy conference. It seems obvious that guys in the org feel like they were not being heard or collaborated with enough under TT. Mark is taking that excuse off the table, I have no problem with it and don’t think it is meddling or any sign of a power struggle being won by anyone.
 
So let's put this in perspective.

Murphy is organizing this like a business. This would be something you set up with a CEO overseeing a VP of Finance (Ball), VP of Operations (Brian G), and VP of Sales & Marketing (MM). Ultimately all report to him. As long as he runs the organization as a relationship manager and not a micro-manager, we are fine. He has not micro-managed the last 10 years. Don't see him doing it now.
My concerns: Football is different than a basic business organization. I don't know how Brian G will be able to get any FA done with Ball being on an equal plane, especially; if he controls the money. In a business, the CEO controls the money, not the VP of Finance. I think Murphy will have to be way more involved than he thinks or wants to with this structure. CEOs of organizations have to be involved with a structure like this.
Be careful what you wish for, Mr. Murphy.
 
I'm kinda with "Belt" on this. I'm not necessarily in favor of a change, but that doesn't mean the change has to be a disaster. Perhaps Murphy has nothing more to do with the football side of the operation than making the final decision on the coach.

It's also possible that this helps with everyone being heard on bigger decisions. Everyone is heard rather than everything dying when it hits TT ears.
 
One man makes the decision who they want to draft. Another makes the decision on paying them. A third coaches the guys they give him. Sounds simple, right? LOL

i just want to be clear on this because i'm not that familiar with the inner workings of a football team's front office. but in the tt days, wasn't it one man makes the decision who they draft and how much to pay them, and a second guy coaches the guys he gives them? so the only new wrinkle is that now ball has control of how much to pay them? and this is going to completely ruin the fabric of the team?

i can see some potential issues, yes. but don't we kind of already know that ball was already making those decisions under tt, and tt was just rubber-stamping them? at least that's the impression i got from some of the things i've read recently. the reason peppers and hyde were never even given an offer was ball, from what i read.

anyway, i believe that ball and gutekunst have worked together long enough that they are going to continue to work together. i'm going to take the pollyanna view that it's all going to work out fine. at least for now.
 
My take and thanks Mark for posting everything.

Seems Murphy didnt want to lose key ppl and keep everyone happy and created this unusual structure. This way MM, Ball, and Brian G all stay and hopefully happy at least for awhile.

As for MM reporting to Murphy I see differently. I think if MM doesn't come thru this year and Brian G wants a change, Murphy will fire him and deflect it off Brian G and look like the bad guy instead... At least that's my hope...

Otherwise have same concerns as others here have already said.

Oh and if Brian G does have total roster control, it won't be Ball to stop him, but rather his job to get the details done IMO. And again my hope.
 
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One man makes the decision who they want to draft. Another makes the decision on paying them. A third coaches the guys they give him. Sounds simple, right? LOL


i just want to be clear on this because i'm not that familiar with the inner workings of a football team's front office. but in the tt days, wasn't it one man makes the decision who they draft and how much to pay them, and a second guy coaches the guys he gives them? so the only new wrinkle is that now ball has control of how much to pay them? and this is going to completely ruin the fabric of the team?

i can see some potential issues, yes. but don't we kind of already know that ball was already making those decisions under tt, and tt was just rubber-stamping them? at least that's the impression i got from some of the things i've read recently. the reason peppers and hyde were never even given an offer was ball, from what i read.

anyway, i believe that ball and gutekunst have worked together long enough that they are going to continue to work together. i'm going to take the pollyanna view that it's all going to work out fine. at least for now.

In the past, theoretically, the GM called the shots. He directed all operations related to football. He was in charge of all facets of the operation, and both Ball, and the head coach were responsible to him. That meant that he was the final say on issues related to the draft, and whether or not they should pursue a free agent. The coach would work under the GM, and advise him as to what he needed for the team, and together, they'd evaluate the players out there, that could help, both in the draft and free agency. In turn, Ball was the bean counter who showed the GM how they could fit a contract into the cap, or why they couldn't. The end result was that the GM then made the decision as to whether or not they should draft a specific player, or pursue a particular free agent. The same applied to cuts from the team. The GM oversaw the process, and worked with the coach, determining the final roster, and roster changes. That includes the practice squad. Ball, in the meantime, kept a rolling record that would give the GM instant information as to what they had available to make moves, and whether they could afford them. He also presented return on investment information on players to determine contracts they considered terminating. The depth of his information is almost staggering, because it deals with everything, including a total comparison in compensation with everyone who plays the position throughout the league, and free agents. Too much to post in one thread.

Ultimately, the GM controlled the final decisions, because that's the real purpose for the job itself. It's to manage the entire process.

That chain of authority is gone. Let's put this in perspective as coaches. The team has one head coach. There's a defensive and an offensive coordinator. They are the authority on their specific side of the ball. They answer to the head coach. Let's consider the GM the equivalent of a head coach, and both Ball and McCarthy are like offensive and defensive coordinators. Now, throw that concept out the window. You still have the two coordinators, but you tell all the assistant coaches on the team that they report to you, the head coach, but the two coordinators keep their job. How long is that going to work? It's going to turn into chaos eventually, and when it does, there's going to be an entire meltdown in the organization's football operations.

That's where we stand. The GM has no more control over the product than the two coordinators do, when the assistant coaches answer to the head coach, not the coordinator.

Then there's the future issue, where they end up with pockets, or groups if you prefer, of players, who want to dictate who the assistant coaches will be, and guess what? You now have the NBA.

This whole thing sucks! Everything that Harlan and Wolf built, is now being thrown under the bus.
 
Not necessarily true...if u read my take...but time will tell for sure :)
 
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