Danny Morrison: The man with the power.

[mountainpantherfan]

Right now everyone is talking about getting a new QB, new coach, new GM. But little has been discussed about the one man who in reality holds the most power within the organization, Danny Morrison.

As fans we generally look at the team from a fan's perspective but that is not how business owners look at things. Fans generally look at the players, then the coaches, then the GM and so on. But basic business model do not look that way. If a business is struggling, and believe me an NFL is a business first and foremost, then the owner doesn't go in and start firing front line staff or supervisors. Instead they fire the people in-charge of those people.

Looking back I think the retirement/firing of the Richardson sons was writing on the wall that Jerry Richardson was already displeased with how the business was operating. Many on here speculated at the time that there was a good chance that Marty Hurney could become the new president of operations. That did not even come close to happening by all accounts and a new face with old connections was hired.

Enter Danny Morrison. Jerry Richardson has always been a hands on owner but has also been a very strict business model type of businessman. While I'm sure that JR will be active in the decisions that will be made over the next couple of months, Morrison will be the man that will leading this team forward.

So who is Danny Morrison? Here is what Panthers.com has on him.

Danny Morrison was named president of the Carolina Panthers on September 2, 2009. He is responsible for the Panthers business operations and Bank of America Stadium business interests as well as representing the organization in many league matters.

His relationship with the Panthers began during the team's inaugural season in 1995 at Wofford College, where Morrison served as director of athletics from 1985-97 and senior vice president from 1997-2001. As director of athletics, he oversaw a fund-raising effort that enabled the school to refurbish its facilities and host an NFL training camp. While at Wofford, Morrison became the school's first full-time director of athletics and guided the Terriers from NAIA to Division II status and membership in the Southern Conference.

Morrison joined the Panthers from Texas Christian University (TCU) after spending four years as athletics director. During his tenure, he oversaw the development of TCU into one of the most successful college programs in the nation and helped usher the Horned Frogs into the Mountain West Conference.

In the 2008-09 athletics season, TCU had 16 of its 20 programs represented in postseason play, including all seven spring sports. A total of 12 sports were nationally ranked, highlighted by the football team's ranking of seventh in season-ending polls. Additionally, the Horned Frogs won conference titles in four sports, and three coaches earned Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year honors.

Morrison worked to bring a number of NCAA and conference events to the University. TCU hosted the NCAA Rifle Championships, NCAA Baseball Regional and Mountain West Conference Baseball Championship in 2009 and was awarded the 2010 NCAA Rifle Championships.

Under Morrison's direction, the athletics department posted its top-four years for revenue and football season-ticket sales set records in two of his last three years. Non-revenue sports, including baseball, soccer and volleyball, established attendance marks in 2008-09. The increased interest in TCU athletics resulted in the construction of new facilities and upgrades and improvements to others.

Prior to going to TCU, Morrison was commissioner of the Southern Conference for four years from 2001-05. There, he established numerous progressive initiatives and created partnerships with corporate entities in addition to expanding and enhancing the conference's television schedule through various networks.

A native of Burlington, N.C., Morrison attended Wofford, lettering four years in basketball and graduating summa cum laude and Phil Beta Kappa in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics. He also obtained a Masters of Education degree in administration and supervision from the University of North Carolina in 1981 and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of South Carolina in 2000. Morrison and his wife, Peggy, have two children.

There seems to be a lot of great things that he has accomplished over the years but this will be his first time being the man in charge of a NFL franshise or being part of a NFL franshise at all. So what does that mean for the future of the Panthers and some high profile "hot seats"?

Couple of things to keep in mind. If Morrison decides to fire Hurney then he will probably be looking for someone with a lot of experience in the GM position or that has many years of experience with the NFL system. Younger, up and comers will probably not be on his radar. Also, if he is to follow the same business model he will leave the firing and hiring of coaches to the new GM. (Of course with assistence from himself and JR.) This could mean that the firing of the GM could come sooner than later to allow the new GM time to compete for the best coaching canidates.

Another thing will be the his ties with the TCU program. Could Gary Patterson make his way onto a list of coaching canidates?

[CharlotteBeer.com]

There seems to be a lot of great things that he has accomplished over the years

It seems that way, but in reality you just posted his bio twice.

[Snake]

Right now everyone is talking about getting a new QB, new coach, new GM. But little has been discussed about the one man who in reality holds the most power within the organization, Danny Morrison.

As fans we generally look at the team from a fan's perspective but that is not how business owners look at things. Fans generally look at the players, then the coaches, then the GM and so on. But basic business model do not look that way. If a business is struggling, and believe me an NFL is a business first and foremost, then the owner doesn't go in and start firing front line staff or supervisors. Instead they fire the people in-charge of those people.

Looking back I think the retirement/firing of the Richardson sons was writing on the wall that Jerry Richardson was already displeased with how the business was operating. Many on here speculated at the time that there was a good chance that Marty Hurney could become the new president of operations. That did not even come close to happening by all accounts and a new face with old connections was hired.

Enter Danny Morrison. Jerry Richardson has always been a hands on owner but has also been a very strict business model type of businessman. While I'm sure that JR will be active in the decisions that will be made over the next couple of months, Morrison will be the man that will leading this team forward.

So who is Danny Morrison? Here is what Panthers.com has on him.

There seems to be a lot of great things that he has accomplished over the years but this will be his first time being the man in charge of a NFL franchise or being part of a NFL franchise at all. So what does that mean for the future of the Panthers and some high profile "hot seats"?

Couple of things to keep in mind. If Morrison decides to fire Hurney then he will probably be looking for someone with a lot of experience in the GM position or that has many years of experience with the NFL system. Younger, up and comers will probably not be on his radar. Also, if he is to follow the same business model he will leave the firing and hiring of coaches to the new GM. (Of course with assistance from himself and JR.) This could mean that the firing of the GM could come sooner than later to allow the new GM time to compete for the best coaching candidates.

Another thing will be the his ties with the TCU program. Could Gary Patterson make his way onto a list of coaching candidates?

As all great as this sounds I would think he was more hired to be more of and Financial and day to day operations then to be the overseer of the Football team and its scouts. Or at least that's what his resume says.

[mountainpantherfan]

As all great as this sounds I would think he was more hired to be more of and Financial and day to day operations then to be the overseer of the Football team and its scouts. Or at least that's what his resume says.

You are completely correct in that his role is mainly financial and day to day operations but that also includes overseeing the GM position. He won't be a Bill Parcels type of president but really those type of presidents are rare in the NFL.

Something else that is interesting to note is that Morrison is in charge of both operations and the stadium. Responsibilities once delegated to two seperate positions. This mean his role will be to not only oversee the sucess of the team but that of the stadium as well. Or in other words, he can't blame someone else for fact that there are empty seats in the stands.

[mountainpantherfan]

It seems that way, but in reality you just posted his bio twice.

Oops, fixed it. By bad.