The Green Bay Packers operate differently than the NFL's 31 other teams. They are the only community-owned, nonprofit professional sports team in the United States.
What that means is they don't have a billionaire owner who calls the shots when it comes to the team making critical football and business decisions. Over the years, they have stock sales where fans of the team and anyone at all can become a part owner of the franchise in exchange for a few hundred dollars.
However, there obviously still needs to be someone in charge in the front office, and that person is the team president and CEO, a role that has been held by Mark Murphy since 2007. When he turns 70 on July 13 in 2025, he will be required to retire from the role after 17 seasons because of Green Bay's organization by-laws mandating 70 as the job's retirement age. Green Bay Packers executive committee vice president and lead director Susan Finco will chair the Packers board of directors search committee for Murphy's replacement. Dan Ariens, Green Bay's executive committee secretary and chair of the personnel and compensation committee, will be the vice chair for the search committee.
"Mark's contributions to the organization have been tremendous," Finco said in a statement on the team's website. "From updating the corporate leadership structure to growing and diversifying revenue to increasing the meaningful impact of the Packers in the community, Mark continues to position the Packers for success. We look forward to his insightful leadership in the next year and a half."
Whoever replaces Murphy will have big shoes to fill as he leaves behind a plenty of football experience plus success in the role leading the Packers. He played eight NFL seasons as a defensive back with Washington from 1977-1984 after being undrafted out of Colgate. The Packers' 162-95-2 record under Murphy since 2008 is the third-best in the entire NFL in that span, trailing only the Pittsburgh Steelers (163-94-2) and the New England Patriots (175-84).
His tenure with the Packers began as the team was in the process of moving on from Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre and replacing him with 2005 first-round pick Aaron Rodgers. Green Bay went 6-10 in Rodgers' first season as the starting quarterback, which was also Murphy's first year running the team.
Two seasons later, the Packers returned the Vince Lombardi Trophy back home with a 31-25 Super Bowl XLV win over the Steelers to conclude the 2010 season. Rodgers went on to win four NFL MVPs, the second-most in league history, and concluded his 15 seasons as the team's starting quarterback with a franchise record 475 touchdown passes.
Murphy oversaw one coaching change, firing Mike McCarthy during the 2018 season and replacing him in 2019 with current head coach Matt LaFleur. LaFleur has since become the only head coach in league history to a lead a team to three consecutive 13-win seasons, something he accomplished in the first three of his five seasons in Green Bay. His 62 wins are tied for the second-most in NFL history through a head coach's first five seasons, trailing only George Seifert's 62 with the 49ers from 1989-1993.
Murphy also oversaw the franchise quarterback change from Rodgers to 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love, which is off to a strong start. Love's 32 regular-season touchdown passes were the second-most in the NFL in 2023, his first season as the full-time starter.
Green Bay's search committee has also teamed up with the national search firm Korn Ferry. That team is led by Jed Hughes, who also worked with the Packers to recommend Murphy as the successor to former team president Bob Harlan back in 2007.
"We have a long and positive history with the Green Bay Packers and are pleased to be working with the search committee to identify their next leader of this unique and storied franchise," Hughes said on the Packers' team site. "We take pride in having more than 50 years of experience working with the NFL and its teams."
The Packers expect the search committee's process to take between six to nine months. Once Green Bay's board of directors vote for a new leader, the incoming president and CEO will work with Murphy during a transition period.
