2012 article about Rivera...About the Journey

[ladypanther]

Good read from the past.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/south-park-magazine/article9082142.html

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This is Ron Rivera, head coach of the Carolina Panthers, with whom rests the hope of faithful fans who’ve longed for a Playoffs-bound team that would crush opponents with double-digit wins and dominate the highlight reels.

Read mor

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Rivera celebrated his 50th birthday in January 2012, during his first season with the Panthers. He says reaching the landmark year only reminds him more of what he wants the team to grow into: Super Bowl champions. “I’ve been there at the tip top of the mountain There’s nothing like it. I want these guys to experience it,” Rivera says. But it’s all about the journey, he adds – the hard work, the preparation, the playing as a team, the feeling of winning together.

I love this guy.

[Mr. Scot]

I remember watching his first press conference. 

I was afraid of him after that.

[Mr. Scot]

In a similar vein, here's a great profile from San Diego beat writer Kevin Acee.

Rivera took a crucial step toward his current success in San Diego

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For so long it seemed Rivera would never get the chance to even be a head coach. Then it seemed the gig wouldn’t last long.

It has become something of a legend how Rivera made adjustments in his game management and his interactions with his players and how he survived the firing squad at least once and maybe two or three times in his first four seasons with the Carolina Panthers.

Now, in his fifth season, the Panthers have won all but one of their 18 games en route to Super Bowl 50, which they will play against the Denver Broncos on Sunday in Santa Clara, pretty much the geographical midpoint between Fort Ord, the Army base on which Rivera was born, and the University of California, where he was an All-American linebacker.

But it was on his final stop before what could prove to be a trek to immortality that Rivera humbled himself in San Diego.

 

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“Every now and then when you do have to take a step back,” Rivera said Thursday, “it gives you a chance to refocus and reevaluate more so than anything else.”

That step back was taking a job coaching the Chargers’ linebackers in 2007 after having been the defensive coordinator of a Chicago Bears team that had just been to the Super Bowl. Rivera eventually became the Chargers’ defensive coordinator, but more than anything he cherishes that he got four years to learn crucial coaching, relational and survival techniques from one of the most embattled head coaches in history.

 

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When Luke Keuchly talks about how Rivera shepherded the Panthers from 3-8-1 to four straight victories to make the postseason and then win a playoff game, it sounds a lot like how Chargers players described Turner’s message and style during early-season struggles, especially in the three playoff seasons.

“Confidence and optimism go hand-in-hand,” Kuechly said. “… His message was always the same. Never up and never down. He said, ‘We’re right where we want to be. If we take care of our business, we’re going to make the playoffs.’ How calm he said it, how calm he remained throughout the process was very comforting.

“Everyone appreciates him. This year, he was the same guy he was last year. He’s hard on us when he needs to be hard. He coaches when he needs to coach. He’s able to joke with guys because of the time and effort he puts into every single guy on the team.”

 

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Turner’s effectiveness as a head coach can be debated, but the ceiling to his success had nothing to do with his relations with his players. Perhaps, Rivera simply has more if everything it takes than Turner.

For one thing, Rivera has become one of the league’s most daring coaches on fourth down. He also employs an actual defensive coordinator to run that side of the ball, unlike how Turner always called offensive plays. And where Turner’s considerable charisma was found only beneath layers of dry humor and a persecution complex, Rivera’s magnetism is understated but impossible to deny.

Seeing Rivera now and listening to his players talk about him, it seems preposterous that it took so long for him to become a head coach. The Panthers, who brought him in after his 2010 Chargers defense finished No.1 in the NFL, were Rivera’s ninth interview over a span of seven years.

 

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“Back then, I thought I was ready,” he said when asked about one of his early interviews, which included a try with the Chargers prior to the 2007 season when Turner was hired. “In retrospect, when you look back at it, I’ve grown a lot. I’ve grown a lot on this job, so I might not have been ready.”

To get there, he had to spend time learning in San Diego.