When you decide to spend $800 million, you should at least know how to operate what you’ve just purchased. You don’t try to fly an airplane without a pilot’s license. You don’t buy a NASCAR team and hire a driver with no experience. Daniel Snyder has owned the Washington Redskins for 10 years and he has run the football operations as if he were Vince Lombardi. The problem is, he’s a businessman, not a football man. The best run NFL franchises are led by football minds, not their owners.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been led by the Rooney family since 1933, and they have more Super Bowls (six) than they’ve had head coaches (three). In 1992, James Orthwein purchased the New England Patriots from Victor Kiam and hired Bill Parcells to lead the organization. When Orthwein sold the team to Robert Kraft after one year, Parcells left and Bill Belichick came in. The point is simple: If you’re smart enough to borrow enough money to buy the Redskins and the stadium, you should be smart enough to know you need to hire someone to oversee your prized possession.

I was fortunate to run the Philadelphia 76ers for 10 years, and along the way I made plenty of mistakes. But I learned from those mistakes. Hiring the right person to lead a major professional team along with a coach is a difficult task. And once you do hire a coach, you can’t try and tell him how to coach. As GM, and later president and GM, I felt it was my job to run interference for the coach or, better yet, be the buffer. Allow the owner to vent to me, not the coach. A head coach at any level has tremendous pressure on him. The last thing I felt he needed was added pressure from the owner. Of course, there are meetings where personnel and strategy are discussed among the coach and management. I always felt that if you were going to strongly suggest whom they should play and what plays should be run, then that person should not be your head coach. You don’t take your car to a car wash and wash it yourself. You have to hire the best people and allow them to do their job until you decide they’re not capable.

Here lies the problem with the Redskins. The most exciting and successful period in their history was when they were led by Bobby Beathard, who was GM from 1978 to 1989. He was assisted by Charley Casserly, who later took over for Beathard. Bobby allowed Joe Gibbs to become the great coach that he eventually became. Jack Kent Cooke did not micro-manage; yes, he was an outspoken, eccentric owner, but he allowed his football people to be football people.

Gibbs started his first season with the Redskins with five losses. This is where Daniel Snyder should take a lesson from the late owner. Cooke not only endorsed Gibbs, he proclaimed that the team would finish 8-8, which it did. This let everyone -- fans, players and media -- know that Gibbs was his guy. It also allowed Gibbs the complete confidence to implement a system that he felt was going to be successful for a long time and not cut corners. If Snyder wants to be a great owner, he needs to do what other great owners have done: Hire a real football guy and then sit in the owner’s box and cheer. From the fans’ complaints about their overall experience at the stadium, he may want to do the same on business side.

If you look at the Redskins, you realize there’s not going to be a quick fix here. It’s going to take time building through the draft, which is why Snyder needs to stop looking for the coaching messiah. Take some time to hire a GM and then listen to him. Once the new guy is in place, allow him to lay the foundation to build a solid franchise. When you take this route (hint: open your media guide, Mr. Snyder; you’ll see that Beathard recommended Gibbs to Jack Kent Cooke), the coach and GM work together to build a championship-caliber team. Yes, there are great coaches out there -- Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden and Bill Cower to name three. I know Snyder is tempted to throw a bunch of money their way. He should step back, resist the temptation and get a real football guy to be the GM to lead his team. You don’t send your kids to school in the winter without a coat. Stop sending your team out on the field without a real leader at the top. Those same coaches will be there later, and your relationship with them will be even better because you have a GM.

Snyder and I both grew up rooting for the same team. We both were little boys when the Redskins lost to the Miami Dolphins in the Super Bowl in 1973. Mr. Snyder, you’ve gone on to be a huge success in the business world. You now own a team that people along the Beltway love like an only child. All we ask as loyal fans is that you think back to when you were a child and do what Jack Kent Cooke did: Hire someone smart. Then you can sit back and take all the credit.

If you’re willing to do this, trust me, you will have so much fun and you’ll go down as one of the greatest owners to ever own a professional sports team. Jerry Jones was on a path to greatness until he fired Jimmy Johnson. The Redskins were great with a great owner once, and they can be great with a great owner again. It all starts with hiring a pilot to fly your plane, Daniel Snyder.

Billy King is a former general manager and president of the Philadelphia 76ers. King grew up in Sterling, Virginia, where he received a basketball scholarship to Duke University. Known for his tenacious defense, King was named captain of the 1988 Final Four team. He's currently a frequent NBA TV analyst and an avid NFL fan.