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By DAVID MOORE, Staff Writer
If you are convinced that Jerry Jones is too intrusive in the day-to-day operations of the Cowboys, if you know with every fiber of your being that the team would be better off if he simply swallowed his ego and took a step back, this story is for you.
Or maybe it isn't.
Warning: The information contained below could cause high blood pressure and long periods of depression knowing the Cowboys will never adopt the following structure.
The topic is Green Bay's ownership. The Packers have a board of directors that operates much like a university board of trustees. While the board is invested with the power to do whatever it wants, the structure and philosophy dictate that football decisions are left in the hands of the general manager and head coach.
"Basically, we hire football people and let them make decisions," said Mark Murphy, the Packers president and chief executive officer. "It's one of the main reasons for our success.
"We let coaches coach and players play. The general manager oversees the operations and makes it all work."
Green Bay has won three Super Bowl titles with this approach and will compete for its fourth Sunday.
Jones would likely point out that under his dramatically different style, the Cowboys have won three Super Bowl titles in a much shorter time frame.
Murphy has no interest in making this a referendum on what works best. The Cowboys don't even come up in the conversation.
All he does is explain how the Packers conduct business and cites two other organizations that take a similar approach.
"You hire good people to perform specific duties and let them do their job," Murphy said. "Our board structure helps that, but it's also a management philosophy.
"I think the more successful franchises follow a lot of our principles. In a lot of ways, the Rooney family runs Pittsburgh very similar to what we do.
"And the [New England] Patriots. Bob Kraft doesn't make football decisions."
If you're keeping score, those teams have won five of the last nine NFL championships.
The board hasn't always been hands-off when it comes to football operations. Ray "Scooter" McLean was the Packers head coach in 1958. He had to meet weekly with the executive committee to explain his game plan.
When Vince Lombardi took the job in '59, he informed everyone that he was in charge of football decisions and had no intention of reporting to a board.
There are 45 members on the board of Green Bay Packers Inc. Murphy heads the seven-person executive committee.
This committee hired Ted Thompson to be the general manager. Thompson hired Mike McCarthy to be the head coach.
Thompson gives monthly reports to the executive committee and at the four full board meetings that are held every year. These are informational. He does not come before the board to seek its approval.
The decision to part ways with quarterback Brett Favre in 2008 is an example of how this structure works. Thompson was in constant contact with the executive committee and the board during the prolonged process. He did this because it was such a high-profile decision, not because he had to sell the board or win the vote of individual members.
"We supported it," Murphy said. "There was never an issue that anyone questioned the move or would try to overrule it.
"You hire people to do a job. When you micromanage and do the job for them, that's when you ask for trouble.
"If you don't like the job they're doing, you make a change."
There are more than 4.7 million shares of stock in the Packers owned by roughly 112,000 entities. No one person or group has more than 5 percent.
There are no financial benefits to owning stock. No dividends are issued and shares can't be resold. Shareholder meetings are held every July at Lambeau Field and various reports are shared on the video screen.
"It's a structure, while unique, that has stood the test of time," Murphy said. "It's had great success over the years."
No other team can follow the Packers' lead. The NFL adopted a policy in 1960 that prevents community ownership by any other franchise. As for the board's management approach...
Well, don't look for Jerry Jones to adopt that model anytime soon.
If you are convinced that Jerry Jones is too intrusive in the day-to-day operations of the Cowboys, if you know with every fiber of your being that the team would be better off if he simply swallowed his ego and took a step back, this story is for you.
Or maybe it isn't.
Warning: The information contained below could cause high blood pressure and long periods of depression knowing the Cowboys will never adopt the following structure.
The topic is Green Bay's ownership. The Packers have a board of directors that operates much like a university board of trustees. While the board is invested with the power to do whatever it wants, the structure and philosophy dictate that football decisions are left in the hands of the general manager and head coach.
"Basically, we hire football people and let them make decisions," said Mark Murphy, the Packers president and chief executive officer. "It's one of the main reasons for our success.
"We let coaches coach and players play. The general manager oversees the operations and makes it all work."
Green Bay has won three Super Bowl titles with this approach and will compete for its fourth Sunday.
Jones would likely point out that under his dramatically different style, the Cowboys have won three Super Bowl titles in a much shorter time frame.
Murphy has no interest in making this a referendum on what works best. The Cowboys don't even come up in the conversation.
All he does is explain how the Packers conduct business and cites two other organizations that take a similar approach.
"You hire good people to perform specific duties and let them do their job," Murphy said. "Our board structure helps that, but it's also a management philosophy.
"I think the more successful franchises follow a lot of our principles. In a lot of ways, the Rooney family runs Pittsburgh very similar to what we do.
"And the [New England] Patriots. Bob Kraft doesn't make football decisions."
If you're keeping score, those teams have won five of the last nine NFL championships.
The board hasn't always been hands-off when it comes to football operations. Ray "Scooter" McLean was the Packers head coach in 1958. He had to meet weekly with the executive committee to explain his game plan.
When Vince Lombardi took the job in '59, he informed everyone that he was in charge of football decisions and had no intention of reporting to a board.
There are 45 members on the board of Green Bay Packers Inc. Murphy heads the seven-person executive committee.
This committee hired Ted Thompson to be the general manager. Thompson hired Mike McCarthy to be the head coach.
Thompson gives monthly reports to the executive committee and at the four full board meetings that are held every year. These are informational. He does not come before the board to seek its approval.
The decision to part ways with quarterback Brett Favre in 2008 is an example of how this structure works. Thompson was in constant contact with the executive committee and the board during the prolonged process. He did this because it was such a high-profile decision, not because he had to sell the board or win the vote of individual members.
"We supported it," Murphy said. "There was never an issue that anyone questioned the move or would try to overrule it.
"You hire people to do a job. When you micromanage and do the job for them, that's when you ask for trouble.
"If you don't like the job they're doing, you make a change."
There are more than 4.7 million shares of stock in the Packers owned by roughly 112,000 entities. No one person or group has more than 5 percent.
There are no financial benefits to owning stock. No dividends are issued and shares can't be resold. Shareholder meetings are held every July at Lambeau Field and various reports are shared on the video screen.
"It's a structure, while unique, that has stood the test of time," Murphy said. "It's had great success over the years."
No other team can follow the Packers' lead. The NFL adopted a policy in 1960 that prevents community ownership by any other franchise. As for the board's management approach...
Well, don't look for Jerry Jones to adopt that model anytime soon.
