Ron Rivera Fired – I was shocked when I heard the news that the Carolina Panther fired their coach Ron Rivera. He has been a steady captain steering the Panthers ship though some rough water. They don’t call him River Boat Ron for nothing. Rivera has been the coach of the Panthers for nine seasons. In four of those nine seasons the Panthers made the playoffs. Making it to the Super Bowl 50 and falling to the Broncos 24 – 10. Rivera had a record of 76 – 63 -1 in his nine season with the Panthers. For That the Panthers new owner said Ron Rivera your fired.
The Panthers have had a difficult season this year. Not sure how much of it was Rivera’s fault. I know when you are the head coach you get the credit for the good and the blame for the bad. Nine years is a long time to stay in one place. Especially in the NFL. There are a few coaches that stay in one place for a long time but it is more likely that a coach is there five to ten years. With the average NFL coach staying with his team for 4.3 seasons. So Ron Rivera was able to buck that trend and last nine.
The Panthers season started out pretty well getting to 5 – 3 at the mid point of their season. Looking like they could be in position for a playoff run. After that they have lost four straight. Two of those losses against the Falcons and the Redskins. Two teams that are not very good this season. Dropping them to a 5 – 7. It looks like the loss to the Redskins was the breaking point for new team owner David Tepper.
David Tepper bought the team in 2018. After missing the playoffs last year things were looking like they would be on an up swing to make the playoffs this year. The Panthers loss Cam Newton in the first game of the season. He only played a few series and then was done. Kyle Allen filled in pretty well but it is not easy to replace Newton. The results were not unexpected and Ron Rivera Fired. Game over.
Turn over in the NFL coaching ranks is always pretty high. There will be a few teams out there that will be looking for a new head coach. Teams where things are just not going the way that they expected. A coach like Rivera suddenly being available should make a few teams really think about what they are doing and take a look at him.
There are three teams that are set up for a coach like Ron Rivera. He has shown that he is a coach that can bring stability to a program and can handle a lot of adversity. The Top Candidates that I see are the Browns, Giants and Redskins.
- The Browns are a ready made team that is looking for a captain to steer the ship. The Browns have a ton of talent. They also have a lot of large personalities. Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry and Myles Garrett are all super talented and need a good and stable leader. Freddie Kitchens is just not that guy. He wants to be one of the guys. Those players and the Browns need someone to set the tone and make sure they stay with it. The Browns fans can be a bit to manage and Kitchens has shown that he can get rattled by that. Ron Rivera would be able to come in and give a talented team like the Browns a chance at success. i don’t see that happening with the current coaching staff.
- The Giants are another team that is a body in search of a head. They do not have the same amount of talent that the Browns have. They do have a good start to a rebuild. Once they completely move on from Eli we will find out if Daniel Jones really has the talent to succeed in the NFL. I am not sure that he does but with a coach like Rivera we would find out. Interestingly their coach Pat Shurmur also failed in Cleveland. He really does not seem like he is the guy for a team like the Giants. Last year he directed the Browns to 5 wins. So far this year they have two. I doubt that they will fire Shurmur in season but he probably will be a black Monday casualty. The Giants have bigger problems than just head coach, If they are going to bring in a coach like Ron Rivera they would also have to get rid of General Manager Dave Gettleman. They should probably just get rid of Gettleman now. Unless you are a Cowboys, Eagles or Redskins fan then you want to Giants to retain him.
- The Redskins – they are also a mess. They already fired their coach and are working with interim coach Bill Callahan. The same Bill Callahan that took an 11 win Raiders team the was ready made for him by Jon Gruden and turned them into a four win team the next year. It is highly unlikely that the Redskins are gong to take of the interim tag and make him the head coach. Ron Rivera is a coach that could do well with the Redskins. The problem here is that he would have to deal with Dan Snyder one of the more difficult owners to deal with in the NFL. The question here is even if the Redskins wanted Rivera would he go there. Especially if he has offers from other teams.
It seems pretty clear that Rivera does want to coach again. Rivera who was speaking at his farewell news conference said “My intent is to coach again. I love coaching. Not just coaching because it’s about winning football games, but coaching because you have an opportunity to impact young men and people. And that’s what I want to do.”
There will be a place for him next year. Teams that need a new head coach should really take a look at Ron Rivera. He will more than likely have his pick of a few different jobs.
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