‘The Mayor’ Dave Gettleman building Carolina Panthers for long haul – his way

On the night he was hired as the Carolina Panthers’ new general manager in 2013, Dave Gettleman ate dinner with team owner Jerry Richardson and returned to his SouthPark hotel to have a beer with Ernie Accorsi, the former Giants GM who hand-picked Gettleman after consulting on the Panthers’ search.

Accorsi was sitting at the bar when Gettleman, having changed after dinner, walked in wearing a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops.

It was January.

Accorsi, who worked with Gettleman for nine years in New York, told his friend: “Listen to me. Look around this bar. There isn’t one person who knows who the hell you are. Tomorrow at this time the whole town’s going to know you. This act’s got to end, OK?”

Accorsi recalls Gettleman laughing at his advice.

Earlier this week, with the undefeated Panthers preparing to play Gettleman’s former Giants team, Accorsi said: “I don’t think it has ended, to tell you the truth.”

Gettleman’s act – as Accorsi jokingly called it – is no act at all.

The Boston accent, the Yiddish expressions, the hours of film study, the decision to cut ties with two of the Panthers’ most well-known players – all were part of a needed change for a franchise that had stockpiled talent under former GM Marty Hurney but had failed to achieve sustained success.

In their first 18 years of existence, the Panthers had gone to one Super Bowl but had never made the playoffs in consecutive seasons.

Carolina (13-0) has won three consecutive NFC South titles since Gettleman arrived, and is trying to join the 1972 Dolphins and 2007 Patriots as the only teams to finish the regular season unbeaten during the Super Bowl era.

And while Hurney deserves credit for acquiring quarterback Cam Newton, middle linebacker Luke Kuechly and seven other starters, Gettleman put the pieces around them in place while navigating a challenging salary cap situation and turning the Panthers into a consistent winner, not unlike his former team.

“Dave can find players and he’s got a way about him that makes people want to work for him. He’s a much nicer guy than I am,” said Accorsi, who retired from the Giants in 2006. “He can lead without making enemies. He was the most loved guy in our building. We used to call him the Mayor. I said, ‘What office are you running for this week?’”

If the Panthers finish this season by winning their first Super Bowl, Gettleman can take any title – and wear whatever he wants.

‘Lord’s got a plan’

Gettleman wasn’t sure he’d ever be a GM.

A longtime college scout, Gettleman ran New York’s pro personnel department for 13 years before taking a reduced role as senior analyst after the Giants’ Super Bowl season of 2011.

Gettleman twice had been passed over when Cleveland was looking for a GM, and had interviewed for the same position with Kansas City. At 61, Gettleman figured he’d wind down his career by continuing to break down film and spending more time with his family.

Then Richardson hired Accorsi to consult on the search to find Hurney’s successor.

The Panthers interviewed Panthers interim GM Brandon Beane, Tennessee vice president of player personnel Lake Dawson, Giants college scouting director Marc Ross and Montreal Alouettes GM Jim Popp before hiring Gettleman.

“I think he got to the point where he thought, ‘I’m never going to get one of these things,’” Accorsi said. “He was 61 years old. And when he got this job, I said, ‘The good Lord’s got a plan. You ended up with a great franchise in a great town with a great owner.’”

Bigger is better

Gettleman immediately started prepping for the draft. While most experts thought the Panthers should take a wide receiver to give Newton another weapon, Gettleman drafted defensive tackles Star Lotulelei and Kawann Short in the first two rounds.

The picks were part of a philosophy Gettleman gleaned from Giants coach Tom Coughlin that bigger is better. Shortly after taking the two D-tackles Gettleman introduced the Carolinas to the phrase, “hog mollies,” a fishing term that Coughlin says was uniquely Gettleman’s.

“He had that one when I came here (in 2004),” Coughlin said. “I had to find out what he was talking about.”

Coughlin and Gettleman agreed that a team could never have enough pass-rushers. The Giants used first-round picks on defensive ends Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka and a third-rounder on end Justin Tuck between 2003 and 2006.

“Watching them from afar, you saw that they were drafting defensive linemen every year,” said Panthers wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery, who played for the Jets from 2004-2010. “They just made it tough on defense because they didn’t really have to blitz. They just got after the quarterback with the front four and they just rotated those guys.

“The way we rotate our defensive line, it’s putting a lot of pressure on offenses, as well.”

Similar to Giants

Coughlin sees other similarities in how the Giants and Panthers were built. Both feature big bodies up front to protect franchise quarterbacks, physical running games and attacking defenses.

But Coughlin, whose office was next to Gettleman’s in the old Giants Stadium, said Gettleman’s scouting skills are top-notch.

“Dave’s a football guy,” Coughlin said. “Give him a screen and a projector, whatever we call it today, and give him players to evaluate and he’s exceptional. ... We would always rely on Dave and his grades and his opinions about players.”

Panthers coach Ron Rivera said Gettleman, 64, remains an avid watcher of film – of college prospects, potential free agents and his own players.

“He and I are constantly talking. I’ll come upstairs and after he watches the tape, ‘Did you see this?’” Rivera said. “And I listen to him, and he listens to me. That’s when you’ve got good synergy. That’s the nice thing about it.”

An honest assessment

Rivera says the fact that Gettleman was an outsider with no ties to the Panthers – in addition to Gettleman’s blunt nature – helped him make honest assessments of the team’s personnel.

“You have a guy like that that doesn’t have any filter. There’s no strings attached,” Rivera said. “The other thing was he came in and there was no connection so he could look at things without jaded eyes. He was able to help us that way in terms of his own unfiltered opinion on things.”

Gettleman made no changes in the front office other than adding a couple of veteran pro scouts. But Gettleman parted ways with three popular players, trading linebacker Jon Beason to the Giants in 2013 and cutting Steve Smith and DeAngelo Williams – the franchise’s all-time leading receiver and rusher, respectively – the past two offseasons.

Fans were particularly upset with the move to cut Smith, who had a big day against Carolina with the Ravens last season.

“The Smith decision was a tough decision. He’s a great player. He’s one of the great players in their franchise’s history. And he wasn’t going to be quiet about it,” Accorsi said. “(Gettleman) hung in there pretty well against it, but I know he got blasted. He was very unpopular.”

Freedom to lead

The moves cleared salary space. But just as importantly, they gave young players such as Newton more freedom to develop as leaders.

But Gettleman has been adept at dealing with fiscal issues, as well. He locked up Newton and Kuechly with lucrative, long-term deals this year before either reached the final year of their contracts.

“The other big thing he did is get that quarterback re-signed and settle that. No controversy. It didn’t go into a contract year,” Accorsi said. “He got that done and stabilized the whole franchise with that.”

Newton says Gettleman is a good judge of character, in addition to be a skilled talent evaluator.

“He’s an unbelievable person searching for talent. Not just talent but good (moral) talent. You can’t say that about a lot of guys in this league,” Newton said. “They find guys that fit the mold, that would mesh pretty good in the locker room. Guys that bring, or uphold, their end of the bargain when they come here. And (he) holds people to a standard.

“I know, and we all know, he hasn’t always been a fan favorite. For him to be mentally tough throughout those stages and understanding that there’s a plan in place, it’s been great to see.”

Not perfect

Not all of Gettleman’s moves have panned out.

He used the franchise tag on defensive end Greg Hardy, spending $13.1 million on a player for what turned out to be one game after Hardy’s domestic violence arrest.

Two of Gettleman’s low-cost veteran signings last year – receiver Jason Avant and cornerback Antoine Cason – were cut during the season.

But some of his other under-the-radar signings, such as wideout Jerricho Cotchery, left tackle Michael Oher and defensive backs Roman Harper and Kurt Coleman, have been big parts in the undefeated season.

Gettleman declined interview requests this week. He’s typically unavailable to the media during the season, preferring to let Rivera take the lead.

But Accorsi says Gettleman is building the Panthers for the long haul much like the Giants, Steelers and Packers – storied franchises that seldom go through rebuilding years.

“They all do things the same way,” said Accorsi, noting the continuity in those teams’ front offices. “All won Super Bowls. That’s the kind of team he’s going to build. That’s the way he is.”

This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 4:42 PM with the headline "‘The Mayor’ Dave Gettleman building Carolina Panthers for long haul – his way."