Rivera's Job just got put on notice.

[GusLevy]

Good game for Carolina today. Having the ball for 34 minutes, 150 yds rushing, the nice 3rd down conversion rate and the lopsided turnover ratio will generally win football games. The Panthers are far from a perfect team - esp given the relative weakness in the receiving corps and secondary - but they play hard which is a lot more important than simply having a talented roster in a league that is structured for competitive balance. Coaching does help win games.

The seemingly popular opinions in an echo chamber like a fan forum can oftentimes be strange as the simplest and vociferous opinions can come from the loudest voices. However, the downright anger and hate for Rivera on this site is bizarre to me. Having said that, I always try to remember that axiom about opinions and a certain body part...

I do have a notion that the Rivera detractors may soon get their wish. With the new Ownership, presumably new organizational structure, etc. that is on the horizon for the Panthers, I can foresee a scenario where Rivera may wish to opt out instead of re-engaging a new org chart for the 4th time in his coaching tenure. 

While some here envision various scenarios where new Ownership will put Rivera on a watch period next yr or even fire him to start an entire new era, I view this situation as one where Rivera holds some fairly good cards himself - it's not like he wouldn't have other options for the Prom. One, 2018 is the final year of his current contract - one way to view that is to believe that new Ownership may not want to extend him, but the obverse view is that Rivera would be a free agent with options. Two, he is a proven coaching commodity in a league where finding a good head coach is harder than finding a good starting QB. Three, he has a core coaching identity and philosophy based on strong defenses and ball control offense - and his players play hard.

If Rivera and the new Ownership rub each other poorly, it seems like a good opportunity for Rivera to look at other jobs - most obviously the Oakland and Chicago jobs given the numbered days for Del Rio and Fox as well as Rivera's connections to those teams. But even beyond those two teams, with Lewis leaving and others on the hot seat, there will be a lot of NFL teams looking for a good Head Coach soon in a marketplace that has very few proven commodities. 7 years ago, the Panthers were 2-14 and had no foundation as a football team - Rivera has won the Division numerous times and gone to the Super Bowl while giving Carolina a football identity in that short time since. 

My opinion is that Rivera will have many interested suitors if he were in the market. As for the Panthers without Rivera - what would be the foundation and identity of the team and who would be leading it? Marvin Lewis and Hue Jackson as his OC...or Dabo Swinney and his goofy college antics.

 

[csx]

A new GM would want to change the coach if the current one isn't winning. 

That GM would be stupid to replace a coach with a winning record in the playoffs.

It wouldn't happen even if we did hire a new GM right after the season. The team will still be roughly half owned by the same people .

 . 

[Rags]

Do I want a better head coach than Ron Rivera? Sure.

But there's absolutely no coaching candidate that is as proven as Rivera is.

I get it. Hiring a new coach is exciting and promising, but Ron has taken us to the playoffs four of the last five seasons, one of the best December records, and keeps this team motivated and focused for the most part.

Look around the leauge. Out side of legends like Tomlin, Belichick and Reid and maybe John Harbaugh what head coach or coaching candidate would you say would be heads and shoulders above Rivera? Or tell me why a rookie coach would make us McVay and not just be another bad head coach? Rivera has been more good than bad for us, and believe it or not, we're more consistent than most teams in the NFC.

[Car123]

Y'all must want Steve Spurrier. The grass isn't always greener.