@SerenityNigh - following on from your previous post, as a casual observer of the NFL whose interest is mainly maintained by some excellent You Tubers, I am curious how you would evaluate the executive and front offices of the teams. My instinct is that the Packers are run with patience and intelligence for the most part, whereas the Cardinals seem inept.
Is success within the NFL similar to the NHL in that it's drafting and developing your own talent that leads to success or is that largely overblown?
I'm not as close on this as I used to be, but you can tell who have good ownership/front offices over the last few years by watching the drama/results. If you have your ear closes to the ground you can see a lot happening, but stability means a lot. Here are a few thoughts I have:
1. Owners getting too involved is generally a disaster, but now you also have owners that want immediate results as well. Anytime you hear about owners making personnel decisions (
Cardinals Panthers) that's a warning sign. That said, Jerry Jones is a good owner despite being a mediocre GM. If he gave up a bit of his pride and allowed someone smart to run his team the Cowboys could dominate the NFL (although dominance now means legit contenders once every 2-3 years.)
2. Success typically runs through a controlling coach with a strong run of luck that is given an appropriate leash from the ownership. Sometimes this is as simple as hiring good people and letting them do their jobs. SF is set up to be good for a few years; the Packers are also probably well run, but I don't know them well; the Steelers are historically a world class franchise but not sure if they need some changes; Robert Kraft has given Belichek too much freedom and Bill has lost some of his touch; New Orleans gambled every year with Brees at QB and Payton as HC but that time has ended and we will see if the front office can make adjustments.
3. Some owners are too distant and can't hire good people; I'm thinking J E T S ! but maybe Arizona fits here and let's see if the Steelers can turn this around.
4. Washington have been terrible with a terrible owner but may now have switched to a hyper-involved owner, they will be fun to watch unless you are a 'Manders fan.
5. Sometimes you can tell a bad owner just looking at their photo; yes I'm thinking of Mark Davis.
Interested in what others see regarding ownership; NFL is a hard game and you can't predict luck, you can just prepare and make good adjustments. Back to your question, yes IMO the NFL is entirely about a) front office teams that can assemble the best collection of players, b) coaches who can make adjustments both in game and during the season, and c) luck both with injuries and sometimes drafting "that guy"
