Bobhaze
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Cowboys fans know by now that as long as Jerry Jones is breathing, he will keep himself and SJ in complete and sole control over the Cowboys. Unfortunately that’s a given.
BUT…When Jerry is gone, there is an NFL family model and structure that is working and could potentially work here if Stephen Jones is wise and open to it. The model family is the Hunt family, the longtime owners of the chiefs. The late HOF owner Lamar Hunt was the founding owner of the old AFL Dallas Texans which of course moved to Kansas City in 1963 and became the Kansas City Chiefs.
Lamar Hunt was one of the more influential owners in NFL history, arguably second only to Jerry Jones. It was Lamar Hunt who conceived of the first AFL-NFL championship game we know now as “The Super Bowl” and was instrumental in helping form the the modern NFL in 1970 with the merger of the AFL and the NFL. Like Jerry, Lamar Hunt had vision, was innovative and was incredibly successful as both a businessman and an owner.
But where Lamar Hunt was way different than Jerry is where hope for the future of the way the Cowboys are run may reside.
Lamar Hunt believed and practiced delegation. He had authority but he delegated football authority to others. He always hired a President and a GM to lead his football operations and perhaps more importantly, made sure he had a succession plan that made clear what he believed was the best way to see his legacy run. Lamar Hunt passed away in 2006 at aged 74.
Hunt’s succession plan included keeping the structure he had used and allowed his wife and 4 children to elect the next chairman/CEO of the team who would serve as the leader of the organization. Here is a quick overview of the Chiefs organization:
This could work in Dallas if Stephen Jones is smart enough to realize the best run sports teams delegate authority then hold those people accountable for results.
It doesn’t have to be this exact model but it’s still a decent bluepprint. I’m hopeful SJ is smart enough to realize this is a better model to run a modern NFL team.
BUT…When Jerry is gone, there is an NFL family model and structure that is working and could potentially work here if Stephen Jones is wise and open to it. The model family is the Hunt family, the longtime owners of the chiefs. The late HOF owner Lamar Hunt was the founding owner of the old AFL Dallas Texans which of course moved to Kansas City in 1963 and became the Kansas City Chiefs.
Lamar Hunt was one of the more influential owners in NFL history, arguably second only to Jerry Jones. It was Lamar Hunt who conceived of the first AFL-NFL championship game we know now as “The Super Bowl” and was instrumental in helping form the the modern NFL in 1970 with the merger of the AFL and the NFL. Like Jerry, Lamar Hunt had vision, was innovative and was incredibly successful as both a businessman and an owner.
But where Lamar Hunt was way different than Jerry is where hope for the future of the way the Cowboys are run may reside.
Lamar Hunt believed and practiced delegation. He had authority but he delegated football authority to others. He always hired a President and a GM to lead his football operations and perhaps more importantly, made sure he had a succession plan that made clear what he believed was the best way to see his legacy run. Lamar Hunt passed away in 2006 at aged 74.
Hunt’s succession plan included keeping the structure he had used and allowed his wife and 4 children to elect the next chairman/CEO of the team who would serve as the leader of the organization. Here is a quick overview of the Chiefs organization:
- Chairman/CEO Clark Hunt, the oldest Hunt child. Delegates most football responsibilities to the president and to the GM.
- Team President- Mark Donovan- now in his 25th year as team President. He is responsible along with the CEO to hire a GM and supervise them along with support staff. Donovan along with Clark Hunt are responsible for the hiring of GM Brett Veach, one of the best and most successful GMs in the NFL.
- General Manager- Brett Veach. Veach is now in his 8th year as GM and is responsible for the hiring of Head Coach Andy Reid and made the aggressive moves to move up in 2017 draft to acquire Patrick Mahomes. Veach is also very aggressive in free agency and at 46 is still very young.
This could work in Dallas if Stephen Jones is smart enough to realize the best run sports teams delegate authority then hold those people accountable for results.
It doesn’t have to be this exact model but it’s still a decent bluepprint. I’m hopeful SJ is smart enough to realize this is a better model to run a modern NFL team.
