Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2017 Managerial Labor Mobility in the National Football League Jeremy Joseph Foreman Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Kinesiology Commons Recommended Citation Foreman, Jeremy Joseph, "Managerial Labor Mobility in the National Football League" (2017). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 4386. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/4386 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. MANAGERIAL LABOR MOBILITY IN THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The School of Kinesiology by Jeremy Joseph Foreman B.S., California State Polytechnic University, 2011 M.S., Florida State University, 2013 August 2017 This dissertation is dedicated to my loving family who made countless sacrifices that allowed me to complete this doctoral degree. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Though only one name will appear on my diploma, this dissertation and the doctoral degree that will follow are representative of accomplishments by several contributors. These contributors consist of family members, professors, and friends whom assisted me in my progression from birth until now, and hopefully into the future. Furthermore, I hope to repay the favors granted to me from the people mentioned below as well as the unnamed contributors to my success. First, I would like to acknowledge my family, both immediate and extended. My family has helped me through a variety of situations by providing me with life lessons, keeping me out of trouble, encouraging me to constantly seek improvement, and dealing with me when I was not my best self. More specifically, I would like to thank my children for their patience, my wife for her unwavering commitment to my goals, my brother for always looking out for me, my mother for her optimism, and my father for his compassion. Not only have I appreciated and benefited from these traits which my family has exemplified, I also learned from them and tried to incorporate them into my life as well as they have in theirs–though the struggle continues. I wish I could name all my family members whom contributed to my life and success, however, I would much rather be spending this time with my family than writing these acknowledgements. So, know that I love you and am looking forward to spending more time together. Second, I made several connections with professors whom assisted me through my education and motivated me to continue pursuing formal education. Perhaps most notably in my undergraduate career, Dr. Nestor Ruiz showed me the benefits of pursuing graduate education and encouraged me to excel in academia. Additionally, Drs. Bruce Brown, Lynda Rush, and Tara Sethia, thank you for your support, mentoring, and teaching you provided me as an iii undergraduate within and outside the classroom. Drs. Thomas Zuehlke and Jeffery James substantially helped me pursue my graduate education through uncertain and unstable times. I would specifically like to acknowledge and thank Drs. Brian Soebbing and Chad Seifried whom agreed to be my doctoral advisors and assisted me in several ways. They were both always available to assist me in research, teaching, coursework, and life. I spent countless hours in each of their offices discussing a variety of issues to increase my chances of success in academia and life. Drs. Kwame Agyemang and James Garand were also always available to me. I learned so much from you both and am very grateful to have you on my committee. Lastly, I would like to thank Kristine Thompson for agreeing to be on my committee, despite being given very short notice. I am very grateful for you all and hope this is only the beginning of our academic relationships. In addition to my committee, other university employees have assisted me through various hardships throughout my educational career. Dr. Melinda Solmon provided me support through various obstacles I faced as a new teacher. I am very grateful to her for her advice, assistance, and integrity. I hope when I am a senior faculty member, I can assist young students and faculty as she did for me. Dr. Dorothy Jacobsen has also been extremely supportive of my family and I. In addition to supporting my family, she has always been available to discuss teaching, academic life, and personal life with me, and for those countless hours, as well as her dedication to her craft, I greatly admire and appreciate her. Similarly, Dr. J. Michael Martinez has been forced to endure countless hours of conversations with doctoral students. He was always around when I needed to vent and provided sound advice as he supported us through our life as lowly doctoral students. iv Also providing support in various tasks which often went far beyond their job descriptions, Miss Ellen Albarado and Miss Donna Smith have put up with me the entire time I have been here, which is not an easy task. Thank you for your administrative and emotional support. You made life in the halls of Huey P. Long Field House much more fun and I cannot image how much harder life would have been without socializing with you and relying on your expertise to complete all the paperwork I filled out while I was here. Also, thank you to Miss Darlene Ainsworth, Dr. Chris Barnhill, and Dr. Per Svennson. Though we did not get to spend as much time together, I appreciate the time you devoted to me. You were always willing to spend time with me to discuss life and careers. Due to being employed outside the university throughout my educational career, I must also thank my supervisors, especially Kelly Smith whom has been very supportive of my educational pursuits and lenient when I needed time. As with family members, university employees, and non-university supervisors, I have too many friends to thank than I have time. However, I would like to specifically thank Khirey Walker for being there for my family and I throughout this rollercoaster ride of a Ph.D. program. Additionally, I would like to thank Ben Downs, Min Kang, Yoseph Mamo, Marcella Otto, and James Hines for creating an environment in our office which was both fun and cordial and I hope to continue developing our relationships for many years. From my undergraduate studies, I would like to thank my classmates who helped me get where I am today. I really enjoyed our intellectually stimulating conversations, the motivation you provided me to do my best in school, and how welcoming you were of my family. Specifically, to Mariano Baez, Victoria Elias, Keith Koda, Vinson Manalo, Joyce Ng, Stephen Padilla, Chris Savella, Jeff Tu, and Vincent Van, I love you guys and I will always consider you family. Most importantly, for those whom I stepped on or hurt along the way, I apologize. v Lastly, I would like to express my appreciation to taxpayers, especially the willing supporters of public education, as they assisted in funding my education. I hope to repay my debt to society manifold as I educate the future of our society, improve our education system, and contribute to the growing body of knowledge in my academic discipline. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 Executive Departures .................................................................................................................. 2 CEO Dismissals .......................................................................................................................... 3 Managerial Promotions ............................................................................................................... 5 Sport as an Empirical Setting ...................................................................................................... 7 Dissertation Chapters .................................................................................................................. 9 CHAPTER 2: THE ROLE OF CANDIDATE AVAILABILITY IN CEO DISMISSALS: AN EXAMINATION OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE ............................................... 10 Literature Review...................................................................................................................... 12 Empirical Setting ...................................................................................................................... 14 Method ...................................................................................................................................... 15 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 23 Discussion ................................................................................................................................