Bad news for an old friend

[Panthers Fan 69]

1 hour ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I think he had the best talent by far. Honestly, Fox did the better coaching job before he just mailed it in at the end on his blame duck year. There's zero chance Ron Rivera gets that '03 team anywhere close to a SB.

Only reason Ron stayed a coach for us so long was two words. Cam Newton. 

[TheBigKat]

Ron Rivera

great man

moronic head coach

[Johnstonny]

11 minutes ago, CRA said:

convo is just the best Panther coach.  And a solid coach is the best we have ever had. 

I give Ron the slight edge simply because he allowed a culture to be created here around Cam and for Cam to whatever he wanted …..and most NFL teams wouldn’t have allowed that to happen.   Ron never gets  credit for that and should.   It’s not what most coaches are comfortable with allowing and greenlighting.   Which brought us the best window in franchise history.  

OK... Foxy then...he did the most with less...JMO....don't need to debate the point..

[CRA]

6 minutes ago, Johnstonny said:

OK... Foxy then...he did the most with less...JMO....don't need to debate the point..

Fox didn’t have less and he didn’t do more.   IMO.

Fox had better rosters.  Especially if you look in the trenches.  

most success in our history was under Ron Rivera and it was the funniest window. 

[Mr. Scot]

I go back to what I think was a pivotal moment for Rivera, and that was the decision to hire Mike Shula as OC. It was typical of his loyalty issues, and it was absolutely the wrong choice.

Gettleman reportedly wanted Pat Shurmur, and while Shurmur the head coach was lousy, Shurmur the OC was a defense killer.

Picturing what a Shurmur led offense could have done paired with a rivera-led defense makes me wonder just have different things could have been.

The only question I have is that Shurmur ran a WCO and Newton wasn't well suited to that sort of scheme at the time, but I'd like to believe between them they could have made it work.

(Shula still being his quarterback coach probably would have helped)

Edited December 16, 2023 by Mr. Scot

[CRA]

Most playoff appearances: Ron

Most division titles: Ron

Best win % : Ron

I mean if we concede it’s a tight race of Ron and Fox….I just don’t see how anyone tips it to Fox given it all skews to Ron

[AggieLean]

1 hour ago, 4Corners said:

Gettleman thought it was a good idea to have Byron Bell and Nate Chandler as OTs and a group of WRs that would struggle to play in Canada. Cheap bastard. They should have been making trades and going all in with Cam in those years instead of trying to run a business. 

After the Super Bowl appearance, that was the year to go all in and actually spend money. 
 

Goodness, Gettleman was terrible. I’m hoping Tepper can finally get it right with this next GM hire if Fitt is fired. 

[Johnstonny]

7 minutes ago, CRA said:

Fox didn’t have less and he didn’t do more.   IMO.

Fox had better rosters.  Especially if you look in the trenches.  

most success in our history was under Ron Rivera and it was the funniest window. 

Prolly splitting hairs ... both brought the fans some good times... I do know that.

[TLGPanthersFan]

1 hour ago, CBDellinger said:

Still the best coach we’ve ever had by far.  

3 winning seasons out of 9, 4 playoff appearances, one Super Bowl loss and the team looked unprepared and uncompetitive, only made it to the NFC Championship once. 
 

John Fox: 3 winning seasons out of 9, 3 playoff appearances, one ultra competitive loss in a Super Bowl, and another trip to the NFC Championship game. 
 

John Fox is better than Rivera, imo. Considering John never had a Super Star QB. 

Edited December 16, 2023 by TLGPanthersFan

[Khyber53]

1 hour ago, Mr. Scot said:

I gotta feeling the Bears job belongs to Harbaugh.

If not him though, someone else likely takes it this year.

Maybe, we'll see.

The biggest thing against Harbaugh is the level of autonomy he will demand in the operation. It could be a Rhule situation, just with a much better resume and pro experience. It's a lot of control to give up, though, in the halls that Halas built.

 

[Mr. Scot]

1 minute ago, Khyber53 said:

Maybe, we'll see.

The biggest thing against Harbaugh is the level of autonomy he will demand in the operation. It could be a Rhule situation, just with a much better resume and pro experience. It's a lot of control to give up, though, in the halls that Halas built.

I'm not a Harbaugh fan, but I do see him being a favorite for that job.

[4Corners]

14 minutes ago, AggieLean said:

After the Super Bowl appearance, that was the year to go all in and actually spend money. 
 

Goodness, Gettleman was terrible. I’m hoping Tepper can finally get it right with this next GM hire if Fitt is fired. 

Right, they should have done what the Rams did - mortgage some of the future and go all in and pick your spots to improve. They were so close. 

[Khyber53]

1 hour ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I definitely think Rivera is done. The game has passed him by and I just think he's lost his passion for it anyway. I can't see another team giving him another chance at this point.

Maybe, we'll see. I think there's a job there if Ron wants it again, at least as a DC if not as a HC. 

Something tells me we are in for a large number of open positions this season.

And I have my wonderings if the HC position in Pittsburgh may come open. I think Tomlin is one of the best coaches of this generation, but there's something about the vibe up there right now that feels a lot like when Cowher resigned. Might be nothing, but it's just got that vibe.

 

[Mage]

Fox and Rivera is splitting hairs.  They were about the same.  The difference is one had a No. 1 overall pick at QB.  
 

At least our defenses with Fox were usually good though.  You can't say the same about the defenses Rivera fielded here.  2019, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2011... all trash defenses. Even in 2015, how many big leads did we almost squander?

But Fox also sunk this team by refusing to bench Jake Delhomme.  The 2009 squad would have won 10+ games with Matt Moore.  Hell I'd argue the 2008 Panthers would have benefited greatly if we accepted Delhomme was washed in the second-half of the season and had benched him.  Fox, like Rivera, was just too damn loyal.

Edited December 16, 2023 by Mage