Ron Rivera is no longer a part of the Carolina Panthers. Naturally, that won’t save him from the withering criticism of its most popular player of all time.
Rivera was recently hired as the new head coach of the Washington Redskins. Former Carolina superstar Steve Smith Sr. seems unimpressed with some of the early decisions that he’s made. Smith called into WFNZ yesterday and blasted Rivera for removing the Redskins’ ping pong table in the locker room and for hiring Scott Turner as his offensive coordinator.
Here’s what Smith had to say, per NBC Sports.
“Coach Rivera goes up to Washington, what does he do? Takes away the ping pong table. . . Come on now, really. That’s the biggest impact we’re going to make? Really? The ping pong table and the shuffleboard?”
Smith was much harsher about Rivera’s decision to bring Turner with him to Washington, though.
“You’re going to hire the same weak-ass offensive coordinator that you had in Carolina?”
It seems petty for Smith to rip Rivera over a ping pong table. Perhaps there’s some lingering resentment he’s harbored for Rivera from their time together with the Panthers. The more likely case is that Steve Smith is just a petty and disrespectful individual by default and people love him for it anyway.
As for Turner, Smith’s perception of him might be over-influenced by what happened in December. It’s true the Panthers didn’t score a lot over the last month of the season (they averaged just 15 points per game). It’s important to remember the context, though. Turner was working with two backup quarterbacks who combined to throw two touchdowns and 10 interceptions in the last four games. The team’s long-standing issues in pass protection didn’t help matters, either.
In any case, Turner faces another tough task trying to turn around a Washington offense that ranked last in scoring this season. He is one of several Carolina coaches joining Rivera’s new staff.
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