Former HC Ron Rivera

It’s already cost him his job, but it’s worth reiterating that Rivera’s performance may have been the single greatest factor in Carolina’s lost season – aside from Cam Newton’s foot injury. Rivera’s mismanagement of that unfortunate development was only one of several critical mistakes he made over the course of the season.

Newton should have never played Weeks 1-2 when he wasn’t 100%. If Rivera had benched him and let Cam recover, this whole year could have gone differently. Rivera also continued to overplay veterans at the expense of the development of younger players (especially Brian Burns) and refused to switch things up on defense when it was clear his 3-4 scheme was getting destroyed by the run.

He’ll probably go on to be successful in his next gig, but Rivera’s legacy in Carolina is somewhat diminished by how things turned out this year.

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