Best organizations: Eagles, Lurie rank 4th
Robert Boland of the National Football Post ranked the best and worst organizations in the NFL. The rankings are not based only on winning, or only on financial success, but rather what Boland calls "organizational symmetry." Boland has Jeffrey Lurie and the Birds fourth, behind the Steelers, Giants and Patriots.
An item we've been meaning to get to for a few weeks here at MTC.
Robert Boland of the National Football Post ranked the best and worst organizations in the NFL.
The rankings are not based only on winning, or only on financial success, but rather what Boland calls "organizational symmetry."
Boland explains organizational symmetry as this:
It is the recognition that running a professional sports team has three distinct dimensions that are not always interrelated and are sometimes actually in conflict. The three dimensions involved in running a professional sports team are maximizing revenue (business), managing the sports product (team) and maintaining a compact with the customers (fans).
So the obvious question is: Where do the Eagles rank?
Boland has Jeffrey Lurie and the Birds fourth, behind the Steelers, Giants and Patriots, three teams that have won Super Bowls this decade.
The Eagles are the only team in the top 10 that has not won a Super Bowl since 1996.
Here's Boland's justification of the No. 4 ranking:
These are the good old days for Eagles fans. And while the uniforms don't hold a candle to the old Bednarik-issue green and silver ones, the Eagles organization has been one of the most innovative in the NFL for a decade. It is also a decade that has seen Philadelphia build a successful new stadium and training complex and show incredible organizational discipline behind president Joe Banner, GM Tom Heckert and coach Andy Reid.
Two innovations the Eagles can take credit for are the practice of successfully extending young players' contracts before they're eligible for free agency, establishing low cost roster stability, and feasting off the free-agent mistakes other teams have made in overvaluing players, especially Eagles players. While the Eagles have no championships to show for Lurie's tenure, they have an enviable run and organizational stability.
So what do you think? Do you agree with Boland's ranking for the Birds?
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