Paraag Marathe Thread

this is going to piss Ralph Barbieri off.

Originally posted by SybErkRimInAL:
championship

+1

lol

In how many situations is the Vice President of Football and Business Operations beneath the GM?

Don't most Presidents of OPs have good networking within the league? I just don't like the fact that we have almost zero networking in the league when it comes to knowing football people in the front office.

Originally posted by OKC49erFan:

Originally posted by StOnEy333:
Honestly, I think people don't like him because he's Indian (IIRC). People just don't think that an Indian should be running an American sports team, for whatever reason.

I must admit, this is a bit surprising coming from you. Race has nothing to do with it, at least from all the posts I've seen in the past regarding Marathe.

He doesn't have any football ties. He has no business weighing in on personnel decisions. However, he has done a very good job with his part in fixing the cap problems, negotiating contracts. Bestowing this "Football Operations" as part of his "title" seems a bit grandios. He seems to have a mind for finances, but the team management seem intent on getting him more involved with the football side. Nobody seems to know why.

I just call it like I see it. I've heard/read plenty of opinions that suggest this to be true. You should hear what some people come up with when they call KNBR and talk about him.


Do you feel that you get a good local prospective from OKC?

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by OKC49erFan:

Originally posted by StOnEy333:
Honestly, I think people don't like him because he's Indian (IIRC). People just don't think that an Indian should be running an American sports team, for whatever reason.

I must admit, this is a bit surprising coming from you. Race has nothing to do with it, at least from all the posts I've seen in the past regarding Marathe.

He doesn't have any football ties. He has no business weighing in on personnel decisions. However, he has done a very good job with his part in fixing the cap problems, negotiating contracts. Bestowing this "Football Operations" as part of his "title" seems a bit grandios. He seems to have a mind for finances, but the team management seem intent on getting him more involved with the football side. Nobody seems to know why.

I just call it like I see it. I've heard/read plenty of opinions that suggest this to be true. You should hear what some people come up with when they call KNBR and talk about him.


Do you feel that you get a good local prospective from OKC?

I recall comments here and there but I think we all KNOW that he is only a walking rulebook and calculator and doesn't have any say in an actual football decision, but it's just gotten to that point where it's just fun to make fun of something and Paraage fell into the role.

I have never understood the animosity honestly, cause I have a big ol salary cap lovin man crush on my boyeee Marathe. He rocks the contracts and the Niners have remained cap healthy ever since he's been negotiating them.

The man does a fine job and deserved this promotion.

Originally posted by StOnEy333:
Honestly, I think people don't like him because he's Indian (IIRC). People just don't think that an Indian should be running an American sports team, for whatever reason.

There is some truth to what you are saying.


The reason I would have a problem with it is because he is not a football dude. He seems like a good guy to crunch numbers. Other teams have guys like Parcells and Holmgren running the football side of things, and I think that is what we need.


Paraage, McClueless and Sing are the people in charge of our football team.

I rarely post here because I think NT is full of idiots who complain too much, but if you take a look at a lot of front offices in the NFL they are full of business types with a lack of background in football. That's the way the league is going nowadays.

Sure there are franchises that are family-owned ran (the Rooneys, the Krafts, the Bensons, Bidwells, etc.) but it's not like their next of kin started off in football.

Jan 23, 2005

http://articles.sfgate.com/2005-01-23/sports/17357970_1_ucla-head-stanford-business-school

Anyone following the 49ers' upheaval the last month ran across the name of Paraag Marathe. The assistant to the general manager's rapid ascension within the 49ers caught the notice of the rest of the league during the team's recent shakeup.

Who is this 28-year-old whiz kid? How did this man with an MBA from Stanford with little grounding in football become one of four people choosing the 49ers' next coach and establishing the direction of an organization adrift? Because nobody knew the answers to these questions, Marathe became a lightning rod for the general dismay with the organization among columnists, radio talk-show hosts and even the NFL set, who openly wondered what he was doing in the team's brain trust.

Marathe (pronounced mah-RAH-tay) became the unwitting victim of what many perceived as co-owner John York's NFL ignorance. It's a fact this business consultant from San Jose, via Cal and Stanford, impressed York after then- general manager Terry Donahue brought him in and was a big influence on the coaching search. But he is not expected to play a major role, as yet, in the organization.

Still, there was cause for wonder, when York didn't lean on someone such as personnel consultant Bill McPherson, who has been working for the 49ers for the past 24 years and has a 50-year association with football, to find and hire a head coach. Instead, York chose Marathe and assistant director of football administration Terry Tumey to assist him.

A new way to draft

Until this offseason, Marathe was known to those who followed the 49ers closely as a product of Donahue's search for a new way to analyze the draft.

Donahue, as he replaced Bill Walsh in 2000, realized he didn't possess Walsh's unparalleled draft-day instincts. He needed to find another way. One general manager who met with Donahue during this process said the former UCLA head coach was looking for a "magic book -- something that would tell him how to do this."

In searching for an answer, Donahue reverted to his business background, and in 2001 he contacted Bain & Company, a consulting firm that develops business strategies. Specifically, Donahue wanted Bain to update the old Gil Brandt system of assigning values to slots in the draft.

In the 1970s, Brandt, who was the Cowboys' personnel head, put a value on each draft pick, so on draft day the Cowboys could quickly reject or accept trades. For example, Brandt wanted to know if the 23rd overall selection was worth trading for the 57th and 58th choices.

Bain sent Marathe. His draft analysis was so incisive, Donahue hired him shortly after they met.

Marathe worked for the 49ers full-time in 2001 and then entered Stanford's business school the next year. While working on projects for the 49ers, Marathe earned his MBA.

"Stanford business school discourages students from having jobs," said IMG vice president Steve Tseng, who mentored Marathe when Marathe interned at the large sports-entertainment firm while an undergraduate at Cal. "He was working 45 hours a week."

York's golden boy

The industrious Marathe won the admiration of York, a licensed pathologist who admittedly relied heavily on his business background (running laboratories and race tracks) to steer his ownership of the 49ers.

"John is a scientist," a source close to York said on the condition of anonymity. "He loves proofs and statistical models."

In his projects, Marathe created graphs and charts that impressed York. After working with the 49ers for 18 months, Marathe befriended Jed York, John's eldest son. Seemingly, as the 23-year-old Jed became more visible at the 49ers' headquarters, eventually joining high-level meetings, so did Marathe.

Marathe's ascension coincided with the departure of Walsh and director of football operations John McVay, which could have been more than a coincidence. Privately, neither liked the statistical approach Donahue espoused. Marathe and his computer shot down Walsh and McVay's trade proposals during the 2003 draft. This didn't sit well with either man, who had built the 49ers' success partly on their impulses.

Marathe was asked by York to lead the head-coaching research, and his profile skyrocketed.

Marathe studied 120 coaches to determine where the most successful NFL coaches come from, and what makes them excel once they have the job. Along with other factors, Marathe discovered that coaches who were with successful teams and worked with winning coaches made the best future coach.

The 49ers' short list of candidates was determined partly by Marathe's criteria. The interview process included a meal with John and Jed York, and then a sit-down with John York, Marathe and Tumey. York ultimately determined the next man to lead the 49ers.

"He only deals with the business side"

"Only racists dislike him"


LOL

Originally posted by nflguy49:
"He only deals with the business side"

"Only racists dislike him"


LOL

Im a racist I hate Indians they smell like curry.

Originally posted by nflguy49:
Jan 23, 2005

http://articles.sfgate.com/2005-01-23/sports/17357970_1_ucla-head-stanford-business-school

Anyone following the 49ers' upheaval the last month ran across the name of Paraag Marathe. The assistant to the general manager's rapid ascension within the 49ers caught the notice of the rest of the league during the team's recent shakeup.

Who is this 28-year-old whiz kid? How did this man with an MBA from Stanford with little grounding in football become one of four people choosing the 49ers' next coach and establishing the direction of an organization adrift? Because nobody knew the answers to these questions, Marathe became a lightning rod for the general dismay with the organization among columnists, radio talk-show hosts and even the NFL set, who openly wondered what he was doing in the team's brain trust.

Marathe (pronounced mah-RAH-tay) became the unwitting victim of what many perceived as co-owner John York's NFL ignorance. It's a fact this business consultant from San Jose, via Cal and Stanford, impressed York after then- general manager Terry Donahue brought him in and was a big influence on the coaching search. But he is not expected to play a major role, as yet, in the organization.

Still, there was cause for wonder, when York didn't lean on someone such as personnel consultant Bill McPherson, who has been working for the 49ers for the past 24 years and has a 50-year association with football, to find and hire a head coach. Instead, York chose Marathe and assistant director of football administration Terry Tumey to assist him.

A new way to draft

Until this offseason, Marathe was known to those who followed the 49ers closely as a product of Donahue's search for a new way to analyze the draft.

Donahue, as he replaced Bill Walsh in 2000, realized he didn't possess Walsh's unparalleled draft-day instincts. He needed to find another way. One general manager who met with Donahue during this process said the former UCLA head coach was looking for a "magic book -- something that would tell him how to do this."

In searching for an answer, Donahue reverted to his business background, and in 2001 he contacted Bain & Company, a consulting firm that develops business strategies. Specifically, Donahue wanted Bain to update the old Gil Brandt system of assigning values to slots in the draft.

In the 1970s, Brandt, who was the Cowboys' personnel head, put a value on each draft pick, so on draft day the Cowboys could quickly reject or accept trades. For example, Brandt wanted to know if the 23rd overall selection was worth trading for the 57th and 58th choices.

Bain sent Marathe. His draft analysis was so incisive, Donahue hired him shortly after they met.

Marathe worked for the 49ers full-time in 2001 and then entered Stanford's business school the next year. While working on projects for the 49ers, Marathe earned his MBA.

"Stanford business school discourages students from having jobs," said IMG vice president Steve Tseng, who mentored Marathe when Marathe interned at the large sports-entertainment firm while an undergraduate at Cal. "He was working 45 hours a week."

York's golden boy

The industrious Marathe won the admiration of York, a licensed pathologist who admittedly relied heavily on his business background (running laboratories and race tracks) to steer his ownership of the 49ers.

"John is a scientist," a source close to York said on the condition of anonymity. "He loves proofs and statistical models."

In his projects, Marathe created graphs and charts that impressed York. After working with the 49ers for 18 months, Marathe befriended Jed York, John's eldest son. Seemingly, as the 23-year-old Jed became more visible at the 49ers' headquarters, eventually joining high-level meetings, so did Marathe.

Marathe's ascension coincided with the departure of Walsh and director of football operations John McVay, which could have been more than a coincidence. Privately, neither liked the statistical approach Donahue espoused. Marathe and his computer shot down Walsh and McVay's trade proposals during the 2003 draft. This didn't sit well with either man, who had built the 49ers' success partly on their impulses.

Marathe was asked by York to lead the head-coaching research, and his profile skyrocketed.

Marathe studied 120 coaches to determine where the most successful NFL coaches come from, and what makes them excel once they have the job. Along with other factors, Marathe discovered that coaches who were with successful teams and worked with winning coaches made the best future coach.

The 49ers' short list of candidates was determined partly by Marathe's criteria. The interview process included a meal with John and Jed York, and then a sit-down with John York, Marathe and Tumey. York ultimately determined the next man to lead the 49ers.

People don't like Marathe because he's a businessman (and not an experienced one) rather than a football guy. And his time with the 49ers coincides with a dramatic change in the organization away from being player first and towards being bottom line first. So he, rightly or wrongly (but probably rightly) is associated with that change.

That change in priorities also lines up pretty tightly with our downward change in football competency, so it's pretty easy to see why fans are unhappy about it.

Originally posted by TheFunkyChicken:
People don't like Marathe because he's a businessman (and not an experienced one) rather than a football guy. And his time with the 49ers coincides with a dramatic change in the organization away from being player first and towards being bottom line first. So he, rightly or wrongly (but probably rightly) is associated with that change.

That change in priorities also lines up pretty tightly with our downward change in football competency, so it's pretty easy to see why fans are unhappy about it.

This.