Capitals, Wizards owner Ted Leonsis opposed to 'meddling'

Team ownership overstepping its bounds? Not in Ted Leonsis’s house.

The founder, chairman and CEO of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which owns and operates the Washington Capitals, Wizards and Mystic, got candid in a TV interview about how much owners intervene with their teams, Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post reported.

In the interview with Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, Leonsis articulated the importance of respecting GMs and coaches and not trying to do their jobs for them.

“I’ve been around the game now for a long, long time,” Leonsis said, in response to a question about meddling. “And there are certain things that you do learn and you do see. But if you break the hierarchy — you have a general manager, you have a coach, you have assistant coaches, you have a captain, you have players — the moment you break that hierarchy, I think you inject needless chaos into the system. 

“And truthfully, it means you should fire your general manager or your coach,” Leonsis said. “If you’re making the decisions and you think what you know is more than your coach and general manager, then they can’t work for you. Because the general manager and the coach need to be the end-all and be-all, and be in that cocoon, if you will, with the players …"

That's a pretty strong stance, especially given how "hands-on" some team owners tend to be. But it appears to be one that Leonsis maintains with all the teams under Monumental's umbrella.

Besides, it's hard to imagine Caps' coach Barry Trotz putting up with Leonsis trying to have a say in his lineup card before a game.

The full interview with Ted Leonsis is scheduled to air Thursday.