After nine seasons, the Panthers parted ways with Ron Rivera on Tuesday, bringing an end to the most successful era in the history of the franchise, while at the same time giving fans renewed hope for the immediate future.
The timing of Rivera’s firing was surprising but the move itself was not. The franchise had been trending down since the 15-1 Super Bowl season in 2015, and with a relatively new owner, it was clear Rivera was working on borrowed time. David Tepper gave Rivera two seasons to prove his worth and he was clearly underwhelmed with the returns.
If you had told Panthers fans in 2011 that Rivera would have brought the team three NFC South titles and a trip to the Super Bowl over the course of the decade (while winning two Coach of The Year awards), I think most of them would have signed up for that. At the same time, it feels like this team underachieved given the talent it’s had on the roster during Rivera’s tenure.
Cam Newton’s prime — which may or may not be over depending on how he recovers from this foot injury — certainly feels wasted. While most of the blame for that should fall on a front office that wasn’t able to surround him with adequate weapons until it was too late, the coaching staff shares some of the blame. It was Rivera who let former offensive coordinator Mike Shula — currently overseeing the Giants’ high-flying offense — use Newton as a bludgeon in the red zone and in short-yardage situations because he was devoid of fresh ideas.
(This is where some might credit Shula for highlighting Newton’s strengths as a runner, as if it takes an offensive mastermind to come up with the idea of running option plays with one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks ever. The rest of Shula’s offense was painfully boring which forced him to lean on those plays that exposed Cam to more hits.)
Rivera will be credited for the Panthers’ defensive success during the team’s best season but you have to wonder how much of that credit should go to Sean McDermott, who seems to have taken that magic with him to Buffalo. After finishing in the top-10 in defensive DVOA over the four years before McDermott took the Bills job, Carolina dropped to seventh the following season and then to 22nd in 2018 and 21st this season. Before the 2019 season, Rivera said he was taking a more hands-on approach with the defense and … the results haven’t changed.
Game-planning and in-game adjustments always seemed to give Rivera problems. The Panthers were never very good coming off a bye week and struggled to keep big leads or make comebacks themselves. Even games against lesser opponents — like this past loss against a two-win Redskins team — were always closer than they had to be. And Rivera was always good for at least two perplexing game management decisions a month.
Despite everything I’ve just said, I don’t think Rivera is necessarily a bad head coach. I actually think he makes a better head coach than he does an assistant — mostly because of the way he manages a locker room. I will say this: His players seem to love him and they play hard for him. For a head coach, that’s just as important as X’s and O’s. That’s especially true if you hire the right assistants, as Rivera did with McDermott and Norv Turner, who finally put Newton in a good offense before injuries deprived us of seeing what those two could do together for a full season.
Depending on where he lands, Rivera could be a good hire. Especially for a young team that is starting over. It just may be one of those situations where you have to move on in order to take that next step toward championship contention. That’s how it was in Carolina but it may have taken too long for the organization to recognize it.
In 2011, Rivera was probably what the Panthers needed. In 2019, the same can be said of his firing.
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