"At the top of the club you've got the owner. He doesn't have the knowledge he should have. He has a knowledge of business. He made it quickly. He wants things to be done quickly without quite knowing how.
In the middle somewhere is the GM. Nobody knows why he's gotten to that position. He's firmly within the owner's comfort zone. He demands quite a salary for doing very little.
Then there's a personnel man, often a frustrated player or coach. he justifies his position by sending the scouts out.
Then there's the coach. He's in there with his assistants at midnight, looking over the film again and again, trying to find out what's wrong. And while he's in there the owner and the GM and the personal man are having dinner, and over martinis they're discussing the team. The GM says, "Look, we've got the best facilities and administration and exhibition schedule. We've set up every possibility to do a job." The personnel man says, "Well, we've certainly got the players. We had a great draft. I know because I read it in the papers. Look, everybody knows Smith is a guard, not a tackle. Everybody knows he should be playing instead of Jones. Everybody knows so-and-so should be the quarterback.
They put their heads together. What do we do? So they get a new coach, obviously in the GM's comfort zone but not too strong a threat. The personnel man's going to side with the GM on anything. He knows where he got his job. So the cycle starts over again.
Every seven or eight years a GM is spat out. And the situation continues to exist. Why? TV, the hype, NFL Films, NFL Properties. Well, it should get the hype. It's a great sport. But it's sure tough on coaches."
- Bill Walsh
