The answer is a great deal of difference! Behind successful winning teams are successful owners. Behind failing teams is the focus of this article. I previously identified the successful teams in an article entitled How Well Does Your Team Draft. That article also identified the 6 lowest teams in terms of performance. Here, I expand that sector by 2 additional teams, now totaling the lowest quartile of NFL Teams. A table of the third quartile, teams ranked 17 through 24, has also been added.
Teams in the fourth quartile.
| Team | Owner | Year Acquired | 14 yr. Avg. Wins | 4 yr. Trend [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
JAC |
Shahid Khan |
2012 |
6.8 |
neg* |
|
WAS |
Dan Snyder |
1999 |
6.7 |
neg |
|
HOU |
Robert McNair |
1999 |
6.5 |
pos |
|
ARI |
Bill Bidwell |
1972 |
6.4 |
neutral |
|
BUF |
Ralph Wilson |
1959 |
6.3 |
neg |
|
OAK |
Carol & Mark Davis |
2011 |
6.1 |
neg* |
|
CLE |
Jimmy Haslam |
2012 |
5.4 |
neg* |
|
DET |
William Ford |
1964 |
4.2 |
pos |
- [1] A negative or positive trend is defined as a change in ranking by 2 or more positions up or down the list.
-
* This asterisk denotes a change in ownership in the most recent past and a trend is not likely to be as a result of the new ownership.
Teams in the third quartile.
|
Team |
Owner |
Year Acquired |
14 (yr.) Avg. Wins |
4 (yr.) Trend [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
SF |
Jed York |
2009 |
7.9 |
very pos |
|
MIN |
Zigi Wilf |
2005 |
7.7 |
neg |
|
MIA |
Stephen Ross |
2008 |
7.6 |
neg |
|
CAR |
Jerry Richardson |
1993 |
7.6 |
neg |
|
CIN |
Mike Brown |
1991 |
7.4 |
pos |
|
TB |
Malcome Glazer |
1995 |
7.4 |
neg |
|
KC |
Clark Hunt |
2006 |
7.1 |
neutral |
|
STL |
Stan Kroenke |
2010 |
6.9 |
neg* |
Results
In the two tables, which contain the bottom half of NFL teams ranked by wins, there are 10 teams with a negative trend over the last 4 years. The good news is that, in 4 of these 10 clubs, there has been a change of ownership within the 4 year period. There is hope that new owners can breathe new life into these teams, and it is not reasonable in my view to hold them accountable for any short term negative trend.
San Francisco is a definite good news story where they have vaulted from the fourth quartile to the top of the third quartile (26th to 17th) under Jed York's ownership. Houston, under Robert McNair, has moved up the list and has good positive momentum under new ownership.
Jacksonville is an interesting case with the new owner, Shahid Khan, a 16 year old immigrant turned entrepreneur from Pakistan who now earns billions making automobile bumpers. If Khan hires some really good football people and gives them the authority to make decisions unencumbered with owner influenced picks, this has the makings of a great success story. Head Coach, Gus Bradley, is unproven, but hopes are high he can be the guy to lead them to success.
Jimmy Haslam at Cleveland is a new owner as well, but the recent reactive firings of their General Manage and Head Coach makes one wonder if Haslam is up to the job of rebuilding a winning franchise. However, the (good news?) for Cleveland fans is it would be difficult to make things any worse than they already are.
Cincinnati has shown signs of progress in the last three years even though owner Mike Brown has been in control since 1991 with a less than mediocre record. The Head Coach has been in place for 11 years, so it is difficult to give credit for a positive trend in winning games to either the owner or the coach given their long term record. Never-the-less, we hope the positive trend continues. For another opinion on these points with the Bengals , check this article in Yahoo Sports.
Conclusions
I think it is accurate to assert that successful teams must have successful owners at the helm. If a team is mired in the bottom half of the league with an owner who has been in place for many years, the future is bleak. These teams need new ownership. New people from the outside with a successful track record in business seems to be the best model, although even this is not a guarantee. Stephen Ross in Miami and Dan Synder in Washington have not been able to turn around their teams.
Present ownership, even though once successful in years well past, and old past ownership that passed the team down to family in the new role of principal owner do not seem to have a good record of success either in general. However, its only fair to credit Jed York of the 49ers and John Mara of the Giants as exceptions. It is still to early to judge Carol and Mark Davis in Oakland.
Successful ownership in the NFL in terms of wins and losses is difficult. By definition, there must be winners and losers. But it does not follow that the winners and losers must be consistently so. Some are just good at winning football; some are just bad. I believe as fans we could accept up and down years in a true league parity situation, but some of us don't have to given that there are owners clever enough to rise above the system in place attempting to maintain parity. Sadly, some of us are left to suffer. We all know whom we are. I am old enough to remember well Billy Sullivan and Victor Kiam, from my experience they were the very definition of mediocre ownership. Long live a healthy and motivated Bob Kraft.