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JS Online: Search for Harlan's successor starts to heat up

A crowd of 11,324 turned out in heat and high humidity at 10 a.m. Wednesday for the franchise's eventful annual meeting at Lambeau Field.

It was the first gathering of shareholders since the stunning and partially unexplained departure from the organization of John Jones, who was to succeed retiring Bob Harlan as president in late May.

Last week, the 55-year-old Jones officially resigned after the club agreed to pay in full the remaining three years on his contract at a cost of about $1 million per year.

Earlier Wednesday, the newly formed 11-member committee met for the first time in regular session. The group, consisting of six members from the executive committee and five members from the board of directors, took part in a conference call with Jed Hughes and another consultant from the search firm Spencer Stuart.

Hughes, 59, coached the Vikings' secondary under Bud Grant in 1982-'83, Pittsburgh's linebackers from 1984-'88 and Cleveland's secondary in '89. Packers general manager Ted Thompson remembered Hughes working with Ron Wolf and the Packers in the mid-1990s on behavioral assessment of draft choices after he moved into consulting.

The Packers received presentations from three headhunting organizations before selecting Spencer Stuart, partially because of Hughes' experience in pro sports. To one degree or another, Hughes was instrumental in the hiring of GM Phil Savage and coach Romeo Crennel by Cleveland, the hiring of coach Jim Tressel by Ohio State and the hiring of coach John L. Smith by Michigan State.

"From what we saw, they were by far the most integrated with pro sports," said Peter Platten, chairman of the search committee. "This is the first time we've ever done it. The business of professional football is getting so complex that we felt we had to take a look throughout the country to find the best person. The best person may be right here, but we don't know that yet."

Platten said the committee already has received 12 to 15 applicants for what could be considered one of the plum jobs in pro sports. In effect, the new man will be able to operate as an NFL owner without having fabulous personal wealth.

In April 1958, Dominic Olejniczak, a five-term mayor of Green Bay and local realtor, was elected president. He was 49.

In 1982, Green Bay judge Robert Parins replaced Olejniczak. He was 63.

In 1989, Harlan became the first so-called "outsider" to run the Packers. A native Iowan, Harlan had spent 18 years in the team's front office. He was 52.

Harlan conceded Wednesday that, in a meeting of the 45-man board last week, there had been vigorous opinion voiced by some members preferring the next president have Green Bay ties.

If such sentiment persists, perhaps the most likely candidate would be Jason Wied, the team's corporate counsel since September 2000 who was promoted by Jones in April to vice president of administration.

Born and raised in Green Bay, Wied started at guard and linebacker on the Premontre High School football team. He completed his undergraduate work at Wisconsin in 1995, then received his law degree from Marquette in '98. He was working at a law firm in Green Bay before the Packers called.

"Jason Wied has been very valuable to us," Harlan said. "(He) is growing rapidly."

At 35, Wied might be regarded as just too young by some members of the search committee. But co-workers describe him as mature beyond his years, intimately involved behind the scenes in all aspects of the operation and a solid candidate expected at least to be interviewed.

Delivering the management report handled by Jones for most of the decade, Wied struck chords that resonated with shareholders perhaps more than any speaker. He displayed a sense of humor, historical perspective and understanding of the future.

"When we have other owners come to this stadium, we'll stand out on the balcony and look out over the cityscape," Wied said. "They'll see trees, they'll see steeples, they'll see smoke stacks. And they'll look at us and ask, 'How do you get 72,000 people in this stadium in a city this small?' We tell them it's no marketing gimmick that we came up with."

Instead, Wied singled out factors such as the franchise's abiding ties to the city and state and its executives and coaches.

"But nothing happens here without the unceasing fan loyalty that goes across generations," he concluded. "Our job in the administration today is simply to carry on that tradition. We appreciate the challenges that we face and we intend to beat them all."

Hughes and his firm will handle much of the legwork. He will contact potential hires in corporate America as well as college and pro sports so the Packers never have to admit that they called.

But Harlan, who has taken Wied to almost every league meeting since 2001, made it clear that his recommendation will be someone with NFL experience.

Jones was NFL-seasoned, having worked in the Jacksonville front office and for a decade in the league office. But associates say Jones' candidacy ran aground largely because of his arrogance and the fact he often didn't treat people with civility. Ultimately, he lost respect throughout the building and with some city residents with whom he had regular contact.

In June 2006, Jones underwent a series of complex emergency heart surgeries that almost proved fatal. Upon returning to work, some who worked with Jones say, he struggled to focus on day-to-day duties and experienced glaring lapses of memory.

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