Panthers hire TCU athletic director Danny Morrison as team president

Panthers hire TCU AD Morrison as team president

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson moved quickly to replace his son as team president Wednesday, hiring Texas Christian University athletic director Danny Morrison.

A day after the surprising resignations of Mark Richardson and his brother, Jon, who ran Bank of America Stadium, their 73-year-old father gave a major front office job to someone outside the family for the first time in a decade.

As Richardson continues to recover from a February heart transplant, Morrison, a longtime Richardson associate, will take over the team’s day-to-day business operations within a month.

The 55-year-old Morrison’s first involvement with the Panthers came in the team’s first season in 1995, when he was AD at Wofford College, Richardson’s alma mater and the site of Carolina’s training camp. Morrison later became commissioner of the Southern Conference before going to TCU in 2005.

“We are very familiar with Danny and he is very familiar with our organization,” Richardson said in a statement. “He has been successful as a college administrator and commissioner and brings a business expertise and sense of community that fits the position perfectly.”

The rapid moves comes as Richardson has regained an active role after months of reduced activity due to congestive heart failure, then recovery from the transplant surgery on Feb. 1.

While Jon Richardson told employees a month ago he was stepping down, Mark Richardson’s exit was surprising because he was seen as his father’s heir apparent. He took over the job as president in 1998 after Mike McCormack retired.

Neither man has said publicly whether a family rift led to the moves.

Morrison will now report directly to Jerry Richardson, the demanding boss who is the first ex-NFL player since Chicago’s George Halas to own an NFL team. Richardson was a teammate of Johnny Unitas on the 1959 Baltimore Colts team that won the NFL championship.

“Leaving (TCU) is not easy, but working with Jerry Richardson and the Carolina Panthers is a tremendous opportunity,” Morrison said. “I am thrilled to be joining an organization I have followed closely since its inception. Meeting the high standards that Mr. Richardson sets is a challenge I embrace.”

A native of Burlington, N.C., Morrison played basketball at Wofford, where he first met Richardson. He then worked up the athletic administration ranks after getting graduate degrees from North Carolina and South Carolina.

“My business approach has been developed in large part from observing Mr. Richardson over the years,” Morrison said. “It is a philosophy that I have come to trust. Mr. Richardson has emphasized the excellent staff and leadership in place throughout the organization and I look forward to joining that team.”