The Maturation of Ron

[London Loves Luke]

The Panthers are currently on a nine game regular season win streak, are back to back winners of the NFC South and continue to win through injuries to some really key playmakers on the team. 

Players are getting noticed. Norman and Cam are all over the national media, Klein, Ginn and the O line are getting love for stepping up and replacing key injury losses. We applaud Cam for doing so much with so little and the defence for being a tough, 'no quarter given' group of guys but we fail to realise that the team has completely adopted coach Rivera's personality and has truly become his team.

Rivera deserves a hell of a lot of credit for forging this team in the fire of last year, with all of the on and off field issues going on, Rivera was the one constant. He continued to make sure he wasn't the focus of the team, praising the fringe players to boost their confidence and putting pressure on the leaders to galvanise their position and getting the team to rally around them in the locker room and on the field.

The biggest thing that Rivera has fostered is the tough character and consistency of the team. The way he deals with the media and in his personal life, you can tell he's a mentally and physically tough guy, and he's made sure the guys in the locker room that most represent his philosophy are the loudest and most influential voices. When there have been people who have not followed the agenda or tried to disrupt this message, they haven't stuck around for long.

The thing that, for me, most defines the make up of his team is the trust that the leaders in the team have in him and the trust that the other members of the team have in the leaders. This can only be achieved by being consistent in the team building and coaching aspects, what we often define as his faults - not dropping players after a couple of bad performances, or not playing new players immediately if they're not entirely ready, even the consistent slow start to the seasons and strong finishes, these are all things that build consistency and help players feel comfortable in a certain system. You only have to look at the teams with the highest turnover: Miami, Buffalo and Philadelphia to realise that consistently successful teams aren't built on star names or big personality coaches, they're built on a sound, stable foundation in the front office and coaching room.

The most impressive thing to me is that Ron still realises that he's a relative newcomer to the head coaching position, he recognises he has issues after bye weeks and early in the season and has potentially taken too long in the past to get young players on to the field. But the key thing is he recognises these and is looking to address them - in his last press conference he confessed that they'll be trying different preparation approaches during the bye week, and that he probably wouldn't have introduced Delaire so early in the past. These small changes in his thinking are what makes me very optimistic about the future with Ron, he's not a massive overhaul kind of guy, and I think the players absolutely respond to this much better then if he was a knee-jerk coach that they struggled to trust. Slowly but surely he's working to improve the faults in his team in a way that the players can respect, and we're not too far from being a consistent dominant force in the league.

 

TLDR: You're not perfect yet Ron, but you are one tough mutherfugger and you've built a tough mutherfugging team. After two play off seasons in a row and a 4-0 start, I'm willing to give you the credit I think you deserve and trust that you're ready to lead the Panthers to the promised land.

 ConcreteClosedAmericanblackvulture.mp4

 

[Khyber53]

Great coaches build an identity for a team, and Rivera's been doing that. He's added toughness to the team as a whole, and a part of that might have begun when he and Gettleman showed Smith the door. We all love Smitty, but he had been the schoolyard bully here for too long and it was beginning to be a detriment to the development of our next generation of players.

Rivera's personality and toughness is rubbing off on the team, but I think the team is rubbing off on him, too. That's going to turn into something special over the next couple of years.

[MV%doe]

RR needed time to learn and gain exp. He admitted his growing pains and mistakes. Even Man d up and said he should have hired a former HC for help. I enjoy his defenses for the most part.... this current version needs 3rd down and rushing D help tho. Dave and him seem to click on a professional level. Not a fan of his passed slow starts to seasons(not this your), 1st quarters , and 3rd quarters...... but the team always seem to finish strong. He seems honest during media too. Overall he's earned the right to be the panthers HC.

[Paa Langfart]

meh.  I think I ll wait to see what the rest of the season brings.  

[Hotsauce]

We are talking about the same RR who has kept Shula, who is not a very good OC, all these years.  His loyalty to some players/coaches has been one of his bigger weaknesses. 

I agree with most of the praise above, and agree he is improving, but I'm going to need to see him do all of these things for an entire season, and not just half a season. 

[TheRed]

I definitely give Ron credit for the start, with all that we have endured so far this year.

The true test is going to see just how prepared he has this team after an extra week off. Bye weeks have been unkind to him his first 4 years to put it mildly. That must change. Now.

[Snake]

Shula is truly his worst blunder. Still  we also have seen Shula turn Cam into more refined pocket passer as well,  and I think thats where he excels not game planning. 

[Jangler]

Well, I read that title all wrong.

[London Loves Luke]

Shula is truly his worst blunder. Still  we also have seen Shula turn Cam into more refined pocket passer as well,  and I think thats where he excels not game planning. 

I think the Shula "blunder" is a little unfair - remember when Shula was hired Cam was struggling with Chud's over complicated playbook and everyone in the organisation at that point wanted to put Cam in the best position to succeed.

Imagine being an OC with a defensive minded coach that wants you to play possession, sap-the-clock football, with a young QB that needs you to simplify the playbook and develop a new (at the time) read option type pro offense, and very few weapons in the receiving game.

We love to poo on Shula, and I get the head scratching decisions sometimes, but its HARD to deploy a possession-first offensive system with limited playmaking talent.

[Panthers8969]

Great coaches build an identity for a team, and Rivera's been doing that. He's added toughness to the team as a whole, and a part of that might have begun when he and Gettleman showed Smith the door. We all love Smitty, but he had been the schoolyard bully here for too long and it was beginning to be a detriment to the development of our next generation of players.

Rivera's personality and toughness is rubbing off on the team, but I think the team is rubbing off on him, too. That's going to turn into something special over the next couple of years.

Oh My God

 

cutting the toughest damn midget the NFL has ever seen=making the team tougher. Its ridiculous how once smith was cut he all of a sudden became a liability and huge loser

[Panthers8969]

Shula is truly his worst blunder. Still  we also have seen Shula turn Cam into more refined pocket passer as well,  and I think thats where he excels not game planning. 

Well he was a qb coach. Mightve been better for him to stay a qb coach, but i agree we owe a little fro cams growth 

[Steves89]

I can't say that Rivera is a great football mind, and it seems like he has a long way to go, but he's the first Carolina coach that I feel like is really a part of the team. Steve Smith used to be the heart and soul of this team. But when he was cut that had to shift and it didn't shift to Cam or Luke. It didn't even go to Davis (maybe some of it did). It went to Rivera. And having the coach be the heart of the team feels right. And I don't think that's the case on a lot of teams.

In any case, I'm glad we have him and that we have a team with integrity that comes prepared on Sunday.

[juliosantos]

still not the biggest RR fan but he honestly took us from a mediocre defense to a powerhouse. just wish he was more agressive 

[Omega Atrocity]

I like Rivera and low key he has really improved his game management skills this season. Knowing when to go for it on 4th, when to challenge (even the 2 we have lost were complete bs). He has improved, and that's more than you can say of most defensive coaches cut from the same cloth as him.