What's Hurney thinking about? A few general answers

[top dawg]

Marty Hurney is incapable of learning and becoming a better GM than he was before.  That's what some people will have you believe, regardless, so carry on with the negativity or even misery if that's what makes you tick---what floats your boat.    

I realize that we are perhaps jaundiced by a political climate and time that seems to be trying to push America backwards as opposed to forward.  But,  there are people who still observe, listen and learn notwithstanding that some of America's present role models are Duey,  Cheatham and Howe.  So I understand why you would be the Panthers fan that that doesn't believe that Marty Hurney can actually be a better GM, after taking everything that he has learned from past failures, amid many days of internal reflection and observation from afar, dreaming about a second chance that he never thought would come, and critically construct a plan that will move the organization successfully forward. I understand the negativity.  In many ways,  as a fan,  the negative woe-is-me way is the easy way from an emotional and intellectual standpoint. Why believe that a man can learn and change for the good when everything that you see in this world says different?  I kinda get it.  But I'm choosing the other path. 

Bill Voth asked Hurney a few questions in an interview, and one of them (in so many words) was what he had learned and how he would apply it this time around. 

Hurney specifically said that he would pay more attention to the economics regarding team building,  and be more patient as it pertains to addressing and solving needs.  

 

"When it comes to personnel decisions, you really do have to be patient, not rush, not overreact and have options," Hurney said. "That probably is the biggest difference in my thinking right now, knowing that there is a solution out there. And if we're just thorough - which we are in our evaluation process - we're going to get to the right place.

"'Be patient' is a phase that I keep telling myself. You have to have other options, and Plan B and Plan C aren't always bad for you."

 

Hurney 2.0 doesn't sound like a guy who is going to be Willy Nilly with the purse strings,  nor does he sound like a guy who will be afraid to let someone go if that's what it takes to keep what I'll call a "positional balance" across all areas of the team.  

He sounds a little more thoughtful, democratic,  and fiscally prudent in his approach to management,  and that's a good thing in my book, whether it's only for a season or many seasons. 

I suggest that you listen to the interview.

 

http://m.panthers.com/news/article-2/Marty-Hurney-outlines-approach-hed-take-as-GM/39896610-cce1-478a-9f21-ab6c8fc43f88

 

He also mentions several areas of need, including the "skill positions" on both sides of the ball---speed and athleticism on both sides of the ball.  He made note that we have our QB in place and that we have to surround him with the necessary pieces to be successful. 

He mentioned keeping the lines strong.  He noted the need for pressuring the QB and protecting your own.  He said that the secondary was a need as well as my favorite,  "wide receiver."

So at least Hurney is saying the right things. To me, he's saying all the right things. So I'm not fretting at the moment.  Worse comes to worst,  he's outta here, but the best case scenario is that he actually improves the Panthers in the long term.  Even if he only improves the team in the interim, before being replaced by new ownership,  that will be a good thing. And that's how I choose to look at it.  Join me if you like.  If not, then carry on trudging through past history. 

 

 

[Mr. Scot]

I don't honestly give a rat's ass about his mindset.

Unless Hurney can somehow gain 20 plus years of scouting and personnel experience and success within the next week, he's nowhere near as good a candidate for the job as Jimmy Raye.

[carpanfan96]

It's not always the most experienced candidate that gets the job, but the right one with the right mix of personality, motivation, skills and knowledge. Who's to say that honestly isn't actually Hurney if all they do is interview 2 outside candidates. :shrugs: well, what can you do but sit by and watch the train wreck happen. 

[Dilla]

It bugs me when some of y'all go on about the "past is the past" poo. It's a job, not a friendship.

[Ivan The Awesome]

My stance on Hurney is this. I'm not ready to believe he's learned from his mistakes. The sample size isn't there just yet. Should he get a shot at GM again? Sure. Interview for it. But also what I'd like is the brass to do is hire an independent contractor like they did with Gettleman.  Let this be an actual interviewing process and GM hunt. 

 

If the process is fair and he's deemed the best candidate then so be it. I'm willing to give Ole Hurn Dog another shot.  

 

As of now this doesn't seem to be fair at all. It's blatant that Hurney is their guy. This is why I wish the hiring of a new owner would speed up. 

[The Huddler]

No. 

 

 

New owner

 

new gm

[Jangler]

I really want to post something gross, but the only question would have been is.... Where did the maggots come from?

[Pi = 3.1SHutYoMouth!]

So, do we see new Hurney training down in this draft? 

[DaveThePanther2008]

I am hoping we move on from Hurney.  This is like divorcing your wife only to remarry her and get into the same fights as you did the first time.

The marriage is over, move on.  Find a new one that is better for you.   

Leave the old bat alone.

[unicar15]

4 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

I don't honestly give a rat's ass about his mindset.

Unless Hurney can somehow gain 20 plus years of scouting and personnel experience and success within the next week, he's nowhere near as good a candidate for the job as Jimmy Raye.

If they give this job to Hurney over Raye then the answer to whether this is really just an old boys network will be in. If hurney wants to be a GM...great. He needs to go back and get a scouting job and prove his worth. Sitting in an interview with your hat in hand saying “I’ve really learned” and then getting one of the best jobs in all of sports is a joke. Raye has worked his way up and deserves the job. Hurney has basically just known the right people his entire career. The other aspect to this is that he’s going to be trying so hard not to be the “old Hurney” that he’s for sure going to overcompensate and make terrible decisions the other way. Give the job to Raye and don’t look back at Hurney. This franchise owes him nothing. 

[top dawg]

3 hours ago, Dilla said:

It bugs me when some of y'all go on about the "past is the past" poo. It's a job, not a friendship.

The "past is the past" can apply to many aspects of life.  I would say that it's easier to forgive past transgressions in business than it is friendships.  I would also argue that it's much easier to correct errors in business.  If people judged businessmen by their failures, and things like bankruptcy didn't exist,  we'd have missed out on the stories of some amazing people. 

[top dawg]

I'm still not convinced that the "fix" is in,  but if it is,  the universe has its way of balancing thing out,  or "fixing" them (if you will),  so I'm still not fretting. 

[Ricky Spanish]

Just now, top dawg said:

The "past is the past" can apply to many aspects of life.  I would say that it's easier to forgive past transgressions in business than it is friendships.  I would also argue that it's much easier to correct errors in business.  If people judged businessmen by their failures, and things like bankruptcy didn't exist,  we'd have missed out on the stories of some amazing people. 

In business, yes, I can understand that, but this is football business and Hurney is severely lacking in one certain aspect of being a good GM: Scouting.

The dude is by all accounts a nice guy, and very smart. The further from 2010 we get, the more I really feel like that whole mess was JR's call to re-sign those nice young men, even though a few of them sucked. 

But where Hurney really falls short is the evaluation of talent. I'm not just talking about the draft, He has a great track record in the 1st round, I won't argue that, but 2nd and 3rd, he's really sub-par at talent evaluation, and with pro scouting he was down right abysmal. That's where Gettleman outclassed him - pro scouting and evaluating. We all know that Kalil sucks, but there were 5 or 6 other diamonds in the rough that he unearthed at a discount for short term rentals that certainly panned out in our favor. Hell, we wouldn't have had to get Kalil had Oher's brain been scrambled because he looked like the long term solution to our LT problems before that. 

So honestly, I do feel like Hurney can and probably has learned from the past where he blew all our money on an outdated position on aging vets who didn't deserve it. I feel he'll be more hesitant to blow his wad this time around. But I don't trust him to evaluate which of those guys to keep, and in turn, which players to sign as FA's to replace those who leave. 

[panthers55]

6 hours ago, top dawg said:

Marty Hurney is incapable of learning and becoming a better GM than he was before.  That's what some people will have you believe, regardless, so carry on with the negativity or even misery if that's what makes you tick---what floats your boat. ........     ......   if he only improves the team in the interim, before being replaced by new ownership,  that will be a good thing. And that's how I choose to look at it.  Join me if you like. 

 

It is the same group of folks constantly complaining about Hurney going back 5 years to find fault ignoring the good job he has done this time around including getting rid of Benjamin, making Olsen's contract incentive based and resigning Davis who made the probowl. All very good decisions. 

At this point it is a short term decision we are making not one for the next five years. Truth is Marty has changed and learned from his mistakes by all accounts. It really should be his job to lose at this point. And given all the uncertainty we are dealing with, he is the right choice for right now. Once the new owners are in place we can revisit this again when more stability might make the job more attractive and provide us with more proven commodities to choose from. Or if we bring in a young guy we can give him the luxury of time to make his changes without the pressure of immediate results. Finally putting off a search for a more permanent GM until after the new owners are found provides stability and might make the job more attractive to proven entities instead of taking whoever we can get.