CHARLOTTE – Marty Hurney, a man who knows the principles and philosophy of Jerry Richardson's Carolina Panthers, is a logical choice to stabilize a franchise that parted ways with its general manager a week before the start of training camp.
The GM from 2002-12 is now the interim GM tasked with guiding the organization through this transitional period.
But there's more to this role than that.
Richardson has entrusted Hurney to make decisions in 2017 that will impact the team in both the short and long term. It comes with the territory of sitting in that chair, interim capacity or not.
And while he's in that chair, Hurney is confident in his ability to play an active role in the team's success.
"I would not come here if I did not think I could help in the interim," Hurney said at his re-introductory press conference. "I would not come here if I did not think I had the energy, the knowledge, the insight that it will take to help this organization.
"I can only do it one way; full bore, full go. I am interim, and I have that role, but I am going to attack it and do what I think is best for this organization."
Hurney insists he's not the same guy who left in 2012.
So much of what and who surrounds him in Bank of America Stadium is the same. But Hurney has had time to look back and analyze what went right and wrong during his run as GM, and he can't be the same.
"I bring a different perspective than I had before. I look at things differently now," Hurney said. "The biggest thing, making sure the analytical part of my brain takes over the emotional part of my brain. When you work so closely with people, you are going to create bonds. You are going to create loyalties. When I look back, and I look back at some of the mistakes, it might have been that the emotional part of my brain took over.
"What the great general managers do, the analytical part of their brain makes their decisions, not the emotional part."
Dave Gettleman, the man Hurney is now replacing, was known for his meticulous, analytical approach to decision-making.
When Gettleman first arrived in Carolina, he inherited a team from Hurney that was "cap challenged" as he called it. The emotional part of Hurney's brain had too much sway, and he took criticism for tying the team to several big contracts.
Said Hurney: "There were some contract issues that you look back and say, 'Did we make a mistake there?'"
He never thought he'd have another chance. Never thought he'd be standing at the podium, readying for one more training camp in the dorms at Wofford College. But here he is, a man with new perspective and a team that's built to contend.
"It's an organization that I have a lot of investment in," Hurney said. "I'm proud to be a part of it. I'm excited to get going."
